For Minister Teresa Ribera, the summer that is about to end “has been particularly hot, particularly dry, outside of what has been usual in transition climates such as the Mediterranean.” Not surprisingly, there have been three “prolonged and intense” heat waves that have led to severe droughts in Europe and Spain, and even thousands of deaths due to high temperatures. “It is enormously painful to observe how there are still people at the head of the institutions who allow themselves to make jokes despising what we have seen, human lives that fall as a result of the heat wave,” deplored the minister.
He admitted that the increase in temperature and the lack of rain are hitting the rivers and the ecosystems, with water reserves that are disappearing and with reservoirs whose hydraulic reserve has fallen below 35%. “We don’t like it, it endangers our way of life,” she warned.
abnormal temperatures
Not by chance, the average temperature this summer in mainland Spain reached 24 ºC, that is, 2.2 ºC above the average for this season. Abnormal temperatures around 3 °C above the average have been recorded in several areas of the peninsula.
Daily maximum temperatures were, on average, 2.6 °C higher than normal values. “By the middle of the century we could be facing unbearable summers,” said Ribera, for whom these phenomena will seriously harm the most important economic activities in our country, both in the primary sector and in tourism or when it comes to guaranteeing energy supply.
The minister opted for “adapting and strengthening the observation and monitoring capacity” to prevent the spread of arid climates and promote soil fertility. The new water cycle will require, according to the head of Ecological Transition, an investment in infrastructure of up to 8,000 million. In the Segura basin, the overall budget, including all concepts, for the next hydrological planning cycle reaches 3,162 million euros.
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