Natural

In June 2022, the residents of Legarda (Navarra) experienced the same nightmare that those in Los Gallardos (Almería) are living today. Extreme heat, low humidity, strong winds, a flame that seemed isolated, and hell. Although there were no fatalities, the forest fire burned 95% of the municipality. Three buildings were completely destroyed. The parish church suffered significant damage from the fire. And all the agricultural plots lost their crops. “In a matter of minutes, we saw how the fire reached the town,” recalls Silvestre Belzunegui, the town’s mayor.

Excessive heat causes up to about 1,000 deaths annually in the 36 municipalities of the Barcelona area, according to a study by the Institut Metròpoli for the Metropolitan Administration. The work has analyzed the impact of climate change on health during the hottest months, specifically between May 15 and October 15 in this territory during the period 2002-2022. This research calls for the implementation of adaptation policies aimed at the population during extreme heat episodes, especially when intense heat levels exceed 32 ºC.

Bombers de la Generalitat has been working since this morning against a vegetation fire declared at 12:45 in the municipality of Lladurs (Solsonès) affecting the Santa Eulàlia area, where the fire has been gaining intensity. However, around 17:00, the same Bombers reported that they have already managed to reduce the intensity of the fire, so they have begun to withdraw some of the resources assigned to this fire. The fire, Bombers adds, is surrounded so its capacity to spread has been reduced.

Platja de Palma, in Mallorca, had an unfortunate visitor that caused moments of tension among bathers this past Friday. It was a horseshoe snake, an specimen with a great capacity for swimming in the sea and that caused several people to move away from its path.

The Generalitat’s Civil Protection is keeping the special flood risk plan, Inuncat, on alert this Thursday, due to the forecast of intense rain and storms, up to 60 liters per square meter, which could cause rivers to swell in the regions of Barcelona and Girona.

The environmental footprint of data centers already rivals that of some of the largest countries in the world, according to a report from the United Nations University, which also predicts what water and energy consumption will be. The emissions that warm the atmosphere will double in less than five years, as the use of artificial intelligence grows.

The UN warns of the imminent formation of an El Niño episode, a natural warming with a great global impact that adds to the climate change caused by human activities. And that double factor especially justifies the alert.

Catalunya has reached a new absolute heat record in May. The 39.5 ºC recorded in Vinebre (Ribera d’Ebre) is the highest temperature ever reached in this month, surpassing the previous record: 38.5 ºC in May 2022 in Castellbisbal and Anglès, and matched on Thursday also in Vinebre.

The episode of high temperatures affecting Spain will continue at least until the middle of next week, with records typical of midsummer, historic records for May, and maximums around 40 ºC in the southern peninsula. Meanwhile, tropical nights will extend over large areas of the country. In Barcelona, there have already been four consecutive tropical nights (minimums of 20 ºC) at the Can Bruixa station in Barcelona, according to the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya.

What is the difference between a heat dome and a heat wave? Experts clarify that they are different phenomena. “The heat dome is the cause and the heat wave would be the effect,” summarizes Rubén del Campo, spokesperson for the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).