The “extreme heat” recorded at the end of April in the Iberian Peninsula and in part of North Africa “would have been almost impossible without climate change”, shows a scientific study published Friday, May 5.
This “unusually early heat wave” resulted in “temperatures at times 20 degrees above normal for the season and breaking records for April by more than 6 degrees,” this World Weather Attribution (WWA) report points out. a global network of scientists assessing the link between extreme weather events and climate change.
A hot, dry air mass from North Africa last week brought all-time April temperature records to Portugal and Spain with 36.9 and 38.8 degrees respectively. Or levels worthy of the month of July.
In Morocco, local records were broken and temperatures exceeded 41 degrees in places, while in Algeria they crossed the threshold of 40.
“Human-caused climate change has increased the likelihood of this record-breaking heat wave in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria by at least 100 times” compared to the pre-industrial climate context and it “would have been next to impossible without it.” climate change,” says this WWA report.
This heat wave was “so extreme” that it remains a “rare episode in the current climatic context”, even in a region of the world already accustomed to an increase in these phenomena “in recent years”, continues the WWA.
According to this group of researchers, the average temperatures recorded last week in this area were “3.5 degrees higher than they would have been without climate change”.
‘More frequent and intense’ heat waves
“We are going to see more and more frequent and more intense heat waves in the future” in this part of the world, warned Sjoukje Philip, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and member of the WWA. , during a presentation of the report to the press.
These abnormally high temperatures come “after several years of historic drought, which exacerbates the impact of heat on agriculture, already threatened by growing water shortages”, notes the WWA.
In Spain, a country whose agricultural regions are dubbed the “vegetable garden of Europe”, the main farmers’ union, COAG, estimates that 60% of agricultural land is currently “suffocated” by the lack of rainfall.
The country’s reservoirs – where rainwater is stored so that it can be used in the drier months – are currently at less than 50% of their capacity, even a quarter in some territories, such as in Catalonia where the situation is extremely worrying.
A lack of water that has prompted many farmers to give up spring sowing, especially of cereals and oilseeds.
Climate conspiracy
“The Mediterranean is one of the regions most exposed to climate change in Europe. While the region is already facing a prolonged and very intense drought, these high temperatures at a time when it is expected to rain are making the situation worse,” warns Friederike Otto, from Imperial College London, one of the main authors. of the study.
In this context of increasing heat waves in Spain – which had its hottest year last year – the government has defended the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet), targeted by a flood of insults and threats, against a backdrop of climate “conspiracy”.
“Murderers”, “criminals”, “we are watching you”, “you will pay for it”: Aemet claims to have received a number of messages in recent weeks criticizing these forecasts and analyzes linking abnormal heat episodes to climate change.
Attacks denounced by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera. “Lying, fueling conspiracy and fear, insulting… This impoverishes our society”, she denounced Friday on her Twitter account, calling for “saying a stop” to such practices.
