Recent ‘extreme heat’ in Spain and Portugal ‘would have been nearly impossible without climate change’

There “exceptionally early heat wave” recorded at the end of April in the Iberian Peninsula and in part of North Africa “would have been almost impossible without climate change”, demonstrates a scientific study published Friday, May 5. This episode of “extreme heat” has led to “temperatures sometimes exceeding seasonal norms by 20°C and records for the month of April broken by more than 6°C“, underlines the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of scientists assessing the link between weather events and climate change.

Due to a mass of hot, dry air from North Africa, absolute temperature records for the month of April had been broken in Portugal (36.9°C) and Spain (38.8°C). VS). Either temperatures worthy of the month of July. In Morocco, local records had also been broken and temperatures had exceeded 41°C in places. In Algeria too, the mercury had crossed the 40°C mark.

“Human-caused climate change has increased the likelihood of this record-breaking heat wave at least 100-fold in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria.”

The World Weather Attribution

in his report

According to this group of researchers, the temperatures recorded at the end of April in this area were “3.5°C higher than they should have been without climate change”.

A phenomenon that adds to a historic drought

“We are going to see more and more frequent and more intense heat waves in the future” in this part of the world, warned a scientist from the World Weather Attribution. These abnormally high temperatures occur “after several years of historic drought, which exacerbates the impact of heat on agriculture, already threatened by growing water shortages”notes the group of researchers.

In Spain, the main farmers’ union estimates that 60% of agricultural land is currently “asphyxiated” by the lack of precipitation. The country’s reservoirs – where rainwater is stored so that it can be used in the drier months – are currently at less than 50% capacity, even a quarter in some territories. This is the case in Catalonia, in the northeast of the country, now in the emergency drought phase.