Climate change caused by gas emissions generated by humans is turning the rains in Spain into much more violent precipitation: this means more torrential precipitation in which a lot of water falls in a short time. Exactly what happened in the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalusia this Tuesday. At least 51 people have died.
The data doesn’t lie: climate change is changing the way it rains. The Mediterranean regions of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, the areas where DANAS or cold drops usually discharge, now receive “19% more precipitation in episodes of torrential rains” than in the 1960s, according to a compilation by the Aemet spokesperson. , Rubén del Campo in a document on observed effects of climate change. These areas are the most affected by floods and floods after the storms.
It is not the only scientific source. The climate crisis has caused the intensity of rainfall to multiply by four in the last 50 years in Spain, as evidenced by a recent review of data carried out by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. The increase has been noted both in episodes of heavy rain (which reached 30 mm of precipitation) and those of torrential rain (whose threshold is set at 60 mm). In this DANA, 200 mm have been reached in general and in the town of Utiel, for example, 400 mm have been exceeded.
The evidence has accumulated due to violent rains, floods, damages and victims. In the Mediterranean area, not only has more intensity of rain been detected, but these extreme episodes “occur more frequently than in previous decades,” the Aemet analyzes explain. Meteorologist Peio Oria studied the time series of precipitation in Mediterranean Spain in 2021 to conclude that there is “an increase in frequency and intensification of situations that cause very heavy or torrential rains of significant extent.”
To put a face to the scientific conclusions, Aemet described the DANA that hit the southeast of the peninsula (Vega Baja del Segura) in September 2019 as a storm “unprecedented in the last 100 years.” But only five years later, Aemet itself now evaluates that what is being experienced in the Mediterranean is “the most adverse cold drop of the century” in the Valencian Community.
Scientists are always cautious when it comes to attributing a specific meteorological episode to climate change, but the same Aemet office in Valencia said this Wednesday that “it is not possible that the temperature of the air and sea is increasing and everything rest remains the same. “We are on a warmer planet with more energy availability.”
In other words, the global warming of the planet generated by greenhouse gases fuels more energy, because that is the heat that is retained with the gases, the storms. When a storm comes, it has more force to unleash, that is, more torrential rain to discharge.
In the towns of Utiel, Alfafar, Algimet, Letur and other municipalities, the expressions of “what has never been seen before” or “something like this has never happened” have been repeated, although the data reflect that it is becoming more common and more likely to be repeated. in a short time. It is the new climate reality.
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