Record high temperatures, droughts, forest fires, power outages and the risk of water shortages. Even before the summer began in the northern hemisphere, this Tuesday (21), Europe was already facing situations that cause apprehension for what can happen in the most awaited season of the year.
After an anomalous month of May in parts of the continent, such as Portugal, where the period was the hottest in the last 92 years, a heat wave reached most of Western Europe, with record rates for this season – areas of France, Switzerland and Germany recorded between 36.9 ºC and 43 ºC. Some, like Biarritz, with 42.9 ºC, recorded the all-time record, regardless of the time of year.
Not only the intensity draws attention, but the precocity of the phenomenon. In France, this wave arrived on June 15, the earliest time of the year since the measurement began in 1947.
A heat wave can be defined when the temperature exceeds, for a few days, by two degrees Celsius or more the average value of the triennium 1991-2020, explains Massimiliano Fazzini, coordinator of the area of ​​climate risks at the Italian Society of Environmental Geology. The origin, this time, is an African anticyclone, with high atmospheric pressure and low cloud formation. “African-based heat waves generally have their most intense moments between mid-July and mid-August,” he says.
The increasingly early, frequent and lasting event occurs, according to scientists, due to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, a symptom of the climate crisis. “They are a showcase of what we can expect if the world continues to warm,” says Edward Gryspeerdt, a researcher at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London.
One of the characteristics of heat waves is the persistence of high temperatures even during the night, making it difficult for the body to recover physiologically. “In the UK, thousands of people die annually from the heat, more than from other extreme events such as floods,” he says.
In France, authorities have suspended, in some cities, outdoor activities with crowds, at the weekend, such as concerts. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the population to avoid exposure to the sun. “Take care of the most vulnerable so that they do not suffer from heat stroke,” he said.
The heat wave worsened the drought that hit the country, and forest fires were recorded in Catalonia and in the region close to the border with Portugal, which was also affected by the drought.
In Italy, where high temperatures had already been recorded since the beginning of the month, the heat wave began to hit the country harder this week and should lead to record rates from north to south in the coming days. In Milan, power outages were caused by increased use of air conditioning, affecting sights such as the Duomo, which was left without an elevator to access the top of the cathedral.
The biggest concern, however, is the overlap of the phenomenon with the worst drought in 70 years for the Po River, the largest in the country. With about 650 km, it crosses the north of the peninsula from west to east. “It’s been two years of drought, intensified since December. The Po basin received only 40% of the rain and snow that should have fallen between November and May”, says Fazzini, from the Italian Society of Environmental Geology.
With high temperatures, lack of rain and high consumption, as the region is one of the main industrial and agricultural strongholds in Europe, with around 15 million people living on its banks, the river is not only drying up but also suffering from rise of the sea water, which has already advanced about 20 kilometers.
This Wednesday (22), regional authorities must ask the government to declare a state of emergency, so that measures such as the priority of water use for agriculture and family consumption are adopted. According to the main association of agricultural producers, rice and grain crops are at risk. Some cities in Piedmont and Lombardy are already subject to nighttime rationing.
As the summer in Europe is not usually rainy, the trend is that the situation will worsen in the coming months, in the face of new heat waves. “We are in June, and the high tourist season is yet to begin, with more demand for water. It is very likely that in July and August we will have increased water rationing”, says Fazzini. Given the seriousness of the climate situation, the need for adaptation and mitigation policies will always be greater. “Talking about prevention is already too late.”
