Iberian Peninsula (drought, wildfires)

From June through August 2022, three back-to-back heat waves struck Europe, reaching a peak temperature of 47℃ in north Portugal on 14 July (IPMA, 2022).

During these events, 45% of the Portuguese mainland was in “extreme drought” whilst 55% experienced a “severe drought” (The Portugal News, 2022). Following this heat wave, the Portuguese Health Ministry reported over 1,000 heat-induced deaths (Demony, Pereira and Nunes, 2022), and Spain reported more than 510 (Al Jazeera, 2022; McCurty, 2022).

France, Spain and Portugal in summer of 2022 experienced devastating wildfires with particularly high fire radiative power values during the July and August 2022 heatwaves (Copernicus, 2022). By mid-July, approximately 80% of Portugal was under exceptional risk of wildfire, leading to a travel advisory by the UK’s Foreign Office (UK Foreign Office, 2022).

Drought also affected the agricultural sector, with an estimated 25-30% reduction in the production of olive oil in Spain, leading to global shortages, as Spain’s harvest normally accounts for half of the world’s production (The Guardian, 2022).

Following these losses, a so-called “heatflation” gouge of both crops and livestock further threatened global food security (France24, 2022). These costs are added to other higher costs of living due to the European energy crisis and supply-chain disruptions.

Environmental reasons are behind some of these issues, but we must also acknowledge political and economic tensions – such as the war in Ukraine and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Together, increased costs of goods and fuel paired with the reduction of renewables on the market contribute to people being less equipped to handle extremes in temperatures.

Read more about heat stress here.

Read more about extreme weather here.

Read more about the socioeconomic risks of climate change here.