In Spain and Portugal, the drought is the worst it has been in 1,200 years. An overview of historical weather extremes in southern Europe.
Drought, heat, fires and even a plague of locusts in Sardinia – Italy, Spain and Portugal are groaning under the start of summer of climatic extremes. In Spain and Portugal there is a dramatic historical dry period, the situation is worse than it has been for more than 1000 years. The weather emergency has already been declared in five regions in Italy – guests and tourists are also affected by the measures involved.
How extreme is the drought in Spain, Portugal and Italy at the moment? And what do vacationers have to be prepared for?
The drought situation in Spain, Portugal and Italy
A recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience says parts of Spain and Portugal are the driest in more than 1,000 years. The reason is a change in the Azores high pressure area in the Atlantic caused by climate change. Normally, the Azores high ensures that hot, dry air comes to Portugal and Spain in summer and precipitation in winter. However, these have decreased dramatically over the past century, and winters in the western Mediterranean have become drier. According to the researchers, “these changes in the North Atlantic climate are unprecedented over the past millennium.” The cause is clearly man-made climate change.
The situation will also worsen. According to the researchers, precipitation on the Iberian Peninsula is expected to fall by a further 10 to 20 percent by the end of the century. Above all, this would have devastating consequences for agriculture, the wine-growing regions and the olive harvest.
Spain recently experienced its worst June heatwave since 1950, with a heat record of up to 44.3 degrees in Andújar in Andalucia. It was particularly hot in the regions of Catalonia, Navarra, the Basque Country, the north-east and north, and Andalusia. In the cities, people sought cooling in fountains, ice cream parlors and shopping centers, as reported by “Zeit”, among others. The heat and drought also favored the outbreak of several forest fires, the worst of which was the situation in the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range near the border with Portugal.
Italy
Civil protection chief Fabrizio Curcio spoke of “worrying data”. The alarm has been sounding in some parts of the country for many weeks. Italy’s longest river, the Po, the lifeline of the wealthy regions in the north, carries less water than it has in 70 years, namely only 20 percent of the amount actually used in June. Lake Garda, which is very popular with many Germans, is also suffering from the drought. The water level is currently about half a meter lower than a year ago, said Pierlucio Ceresa from the Association of Municipalities on Lake Garda of the German Press Agency. However, this has no effect on swimming in the lake. However, Ceresa warned to check the depth before jumping into the lake, for example from rocks. Because of the drought in the Po River, the idea of taking water from Lake Garda – the largest lake in Italy – has already been raised. The community association opposed this.
In addition to the drought, the heat in Italy is particularly noticeable these days. On Monday, various weather services reported June heat records in Rome with up to 40 degrees and Florence even over 40 degrees. A high pressure area called Charon is currently pumping the hot air masses from Africa to Europe. In Greek mythology, Charon was the ferryman who brought the dead in a boat to the entrance to the underworld. The National Science Council predicted above-average temperatures throughout the summer. Because of the drought everywhere in the country, the fires are currently piling up. Home Secretary Luciana Lamorgese urged citizens to be responsible to avoid fires. Above all, Sicily, Apulia, Lazio with the capital Rome, Calabria and Campania were affected by the fires.
In addition, some areas in Sardinia are also fighting locusts. According to the agricultural organization Coldiretti, the insects have already destroyed 30,000 hectares of farmland on the island. The locusts love the hot, dry conditions.
Measures against the drought
After a cabinet meeting, the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced that the state of emergency would apply in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto until the end of the year.
Measures are already in place in many places. In Milan, for example, the water in the large fountain was turned off and private car washing was prohibited. Cities like Verona are already restricting drinking water consumption because of the drought. In the municipality of Castenaso near Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region, hairdressers are only allowed to wash customers’ hair a maximum of once to save water. Meanwhile, Lombardy was already asking neighboring Switzerland for water from the canton of Ticino.
