A new climate change study outlines the stark reality for Spain and Portugal where the increase in flooding, drought and forest fires now is inevitable.
A group of international scientists from various institutions, including the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, published the study that warns of the many threats to which Europe will be exposed in the coming decades due to climate change.
One of the conclusions is that Spain and Portugal will be badly hit with 100 year events coming more frequently, sometimes simultaneously.
The areas most affected by multiple threats will be the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and the North Sea.
Europe already is suffering the largest losses in history due to climate-related risks, and this will get even worse because the chances are that "climate change will increase the risks posed by extreme weather events," reads the study.
The researchers examined seven climate threats - cold spells and heat waves, overflowing rivers and flooding on seacoasts, droughts, forest fires and windstorms - and calculated the particular risks for different parts of Europe due to multiple extreme weather events over the course of this century.
One of the conclusions is that Spain and Portugal will suffer from natural disasters which will affect their economies and that Europe will suffer a "strong and progressive increase" of climate hazards which gradually intensified from the north to southwestern Europe which will suffer from increased heat waves, droughts and forest fires.
Particularly at risk are the coasts and floodplains of western and southern Europe, including Spain. These areas are often the most populated and economically important, so that floods and storms combined with other climatic threats can have critical consequences.
The areas most affected by multiple threats will be the northwest of the Iberian peninsular, the North Sea, the UK, parts of France, the Alps, northern Italy and the Balkan countries along the Danube River.
Towards the end of the century, 60% of the territory of southern Europe, including Portugal and Spain, will suffer the intensity of heat waves that normally occurred every 100 years.
In southern and western Europe, droughts that happen every 100 years will be at 2 to 5 year intervals and will be prolonged but in the north, east and center of the continent these will be reduced due to increased rainfall and flooding.
Against this cheerless backdrop we have the Paris agreement to reduce CO2 emissions and Portugal’s simultaneous desire to become and oil and gas producing nation which seems increasingly at odds with the reality of changing weather patterns and the reasons behind them.
Politicians continue to focus on short term economic gain despite the certain knowledge that future generations will question why nothing was done to avert climate change when the tools were at our disposal.
