In a study that contained a quick analysis of the Spanish situation, different scientists from around the world from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) estimated that the climate crisis situation in which the planet finds itself doubled the probabilities of the appearance of DANA, which hits our country and caused an increase in the intensity of rains by 12%.
Separately, another report released the same day by the same group of experts concludes that human-caused climate change has intensified the 10 deadliest extreme weather events of the past 20 years – between 2004 and 2023 – and contributed to more of 570,000 deaths.
This group of scientists is precisely specialized in determining the possible relationship (or not) that climate change may have with different extreme weather phenomena around the world. Other studies published this year also link the climate crisis to the intensity of rainfall which caused flooding in the Sahel and West Africa, East Africa, Asia (Nepal, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan). ) and in southern Brazil in 2024.
A more complete and detailed attribution study is still needed in the case of Spain, but the first investigations, which provide these results, reaffirm something that has long been said by the scientific community: that a warmer atmosphere can retain more moisture, leading to heavier rain. They insist that “each additional fraction of warming increases the risk of extreme precipitation.”
Additionally, according to a separate analysis from Climate Central, climate change has made warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures that added moisture to the DANA 50 to 300 times more likely.
“As we speak, Typhoon Kong Rey is wreaking havoc in Taiwan, just 24 hours after flooding in Spain. “These back-to-back events show how dangerous climate change already is with just 1.3°C of warming, but if we don’t replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, we will face a back-to-back future of extreme weather events . ” said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Center for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London.
For her part, Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute of Climate Change and Environment and co-director of World Weather Attribution, said: “When we talk about climate change, we have to talk about fossil fuels. The burning of oil, gas and coal is the main reason for global warming and today we are facing such extreme weather conditions. To stop global warming, we must replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. “We have all the knowledge and technology to make this happen, but we need leaders to step up and make it happen. »
In turn, he insisted on the need for vigorous adaptation to the climate: “We must also adapt. “The number of people who have died in the floods in Spain really reinforces the critical need to prepare for extreme weather conditions, worse than anything experienced in the past.”
The report also highlights the influence of factors such as urbanization, land and water management and poverty on the scale of the disaster.
COP29, this year’s Climate Summit, will begin on November 11, where the state of the global climate will be updated and details of some of this year’s worst extreme events and their impacts will be presented.
