Climate catastrophe affects Spain and Europe

Drought, fires, destruction and death. The high temperatures are leaving a desolate panorama in Spain and throughout Europe. Forest fires alone have devastated 790,000 hectares in the European Union (EU), 46% of which corresponds to everything burnt in the Iberian country.

António Guterres, head of the United Nations, speaks of "collective suicide" after replying to the great powers that action against climate change continues to lack serious efforts to do everything possible to prevent the global temperature from rising to 2 degrees Celsius and to comply with the barriers imposed by the Paris Agreement to limit this rise to 1.5 degrees.

Experts warn of the risk of extinction of plant and animal species and also of human mortality; and of profound changes in people's habits and customs because the disappearance of the four seasons of the year to leave only two extremes: either hot or cold, will give way to the need to become accustomed to inclement weather.

This summer will be long remembered in European cities on the Mediterranean (Italy has reached 42 degrees Celsius) but also in those further north with traditionally milder temperatures that have been conspicuous by their absence in July and August. In Geneva, the thermometers have reached 39 degrees, leaving the flowers of the Horloge fleurie, symbol of the Swiss city, wilted. 

In Lincolnshire, UK, the record temperature was 40.3 degrees and London has spent several days at 40 degrees, leaving behind a city of eternal drizzle, mist and half-darkness.

Galicia, another cool region, in Orense has set another all-time high with several days at 44 degrees; a hellish heat more typical of southern Spain - cities like Cordoba - than the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Galicia is famous for its constant rainfall and 20 to 23 degree weather.

Climate experts talk about temperatures that are here to stay and the irresponsibility of governments for not taking timely measures to mitigate the harmful effects of industrialisation and human activities as generators of polluting gases that affect the atmosphere.

Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), says that without man-made climate change, temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius in the UK "would have been extremely unlikely" but are now a reality, and not just a passing one because they will be present until at least 2060.

"In the future these kinds of heatwaves are going to be normal. We will see stronger extremes. We have pumped so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that the negative trend will continue for decades. We have not been able to reduce our emissions globally," Taalas told a press conference.

Dedicated to the issue of climate and its impact on ecosystem life and human beings, Taalas said he hoped that the current situation would result in a wake-up call for governments with an electoral impact in democratic countries.

When minimum and maximum temperatures rise, there are consequences for human health, especially for the elderly, children, newborns, the sick with certain pathologies and the immunocompromised. 

According to the Health Institute Carlos III in Madrid, in Spain, according to preliminary data - last July - 2,200 people died of heat stroke. In just one day, on 19 July, 184 people died from this disorder, and not only elderly people, but also workers who work outdoors, from labourers to street cleaners.

What is heat stroke? Health department in Castilla-La Mancha explains that it is caused by a rise in body temperature that reaches or even exceeds 40 degrees Celsius; the skin is hot, dry, reddened and there are intense headaches; the affected person feels fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and may hyperventilate. Convulsions, delirium, fainting and often coma occur; a person affected by heat stroke can die within a short time. 

Although the Spanish Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, calls for caution in interpreting the data on deaths given that "some are mere estimates", the health authorities do not know how to explain the excess deaths recorded in July, with 9,687 deaths more than expected, which supposedly are not people affected by the coronavirus. In that month, the health authorities have reported 1,872 deaths due to Covid-19. 

In people there is a thermal stress derived from the sensation of the intensity of the sun's rays on the human body that quickly decompensates it. 

The WMO notes that heat waves during the height of summer pose a substantial risk to human health and are potentially lethal. 

"This risk is exacerbated by climate change, but also by other factors such as population ageing, urbanisation, changing social structures and levels of preparedness. The full impact is only known after a few weeks when mortality figures have been analysed," according to the agency.

Maria Neira, Director of Environment and Health at the World Health Organisation (WHO) points out that when a heatwave is accompanied by high levels of pollution, it exacerbates respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and conditions, especially in large urban areas that are not adapted to cope with these high temperatures.

 "We have been warning for a long time that climate change is seriously affecting human health and therefore it will be extremely important to take action to achieve zero carbon and accelerate the transition to clean and renewable energy sources," said Neira.

The threat is real and climate change also kills. Asked a few days ago about the intense heatwave in Europe, Taalas said there is a 40% chance that "the annual average global temperature will temporarily reach 1.5 degrees Celsius" above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years.

"Rising temperatures mean more melting ice, higher sea levels, more heat waves and other extreme weather events, and greater impacts on food security, health, the environment and sustainable development," he said. 

The other unpleasant face of the current climate crisis has to do with drought: rivers, lakes and freshwater reservoirs are at historic lows with very low flows, putting at risk not only water consumption for humans but also for the transport of goods.

Germany is on the verge of banning navigation on the Rhine, one of Europe's most important, largest and longest rivers (1,230 kilometres long) is drying up. It is of vital value as it flows, as it is called, through the Aquae Foundation, from the Graubünden in the south-eastern Swiss Alps, through Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and finally into the North Sea.

German port authorities are considering suspending the transit of passenger cruise ships at the height of the summer holiday season when the industry has recovered from the lull caused by the restrictions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. But there is more: if the river level continues to fall, river freight transport, which is important for the German economy because it moves cereals, chemical products and other goods and commodities, will also be at risk.

The so-called famine stones - dating back to the 15th to 17th centuries - have caused a great deal of unrest among the population in recent weeks as the water level has fallen steadily to historic lows. 

On the Rhine, several of these inscriptions have been seen with fateful, almost ominous messages, almost always warning about the water level: "If you see me, weep".

More stones have been seen along the Elbe, another major river, the second longest (1,094 kilometres) in central Europe, which is experiencing the same situation as the Rhine. Other inscriptions on various stretches of the Elbe are being seen with flow markings as a way of foreshadowing famine; the oldest currently documented is dated 1616 and repeats the same warning as the one found on the Rhine.

The lack of the vital liquid is highly unsettling. Water wars have marked the past and will surely be present in the future if climate change is not defeated with science, intelligence and resilience. As of July, 60% of the EU's land area was in drought.

Javier Caamaño, director of Mapfre's Global Security Center, points out that the lack of water will continue to be a driver of migratory movements, and that by 2030, according to the UN, it could displace up to 700 million people. 

"Droughts are reaching wider and wider latitudes and studies by the UN believe that by 2050 they could affect more than three quarters of the world's population; between 4.8 and 5.7 billion people will live in areas with water shortages for at least one month each year, compared to the current 3.6 billion people," he explained.

The challenge is immense. As an analyst, Caamaño believes that declining levels of water reserves, accompanied by water supply restrictions or waves of fires can lead to the feared degradation of fertile soils.

Here in Spain, reservoirs are at their worst level in thirty years. Everything has added up against it: the drought is keeping aquifers at 39.2 per cent, the lowest level since 1995. There are already several cities with water restrictions and rationing with autonomous communities affected, such as Galicia, Andalusia and Catalonia.  In Galicia, the municipalities of Pontecaldelas, Poio, Bueu and Sanxenxo, among others, have had water cuts at the taps for days, which could extend to night-time cuts. But there are other municipalities also affected in the interior of Orense.

The same situation in Catalonia with water limitations in 150 municipalities and in Andalusia, the reservoirs are at 30% of their capacity; the situation is dramatic with restrictions on water consumption from Huelva to Cordoba; and in Malaga, the reservoir of La Viñuela, is at 12% of its capacity.

The availability of resources has always been limited in Europe, hence its historical impetus to go out to the ocean in search of diversification and dominance.

Decisions in both Spain and Europe should be taken more quickly on prevention and mitigation. The outlook is uncertain and citizens are only taking the decisions of their respective authorities: autumn and winter, with electricity rationing and in some parts water rationing.

The future does not look good. Science and technology must be pushed to find the vaccine that will prevent a water shortage tragedy in a continent that urgently needs to reduce its vulnerabilities. Climate change is here to stay and must be fought with resilience and ingenuity.