When will temperatures start to drop?
Along with extreme weather events, the coming summers will start earlier and end later, cutting back the temperate seasons to the point where they virtually disappear.
The summer of 2024 was the hottest summer on record. This fact is apparent in the results presented by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which show that the months of June, July and August 2024 were 0.1 ºC above the average since records have been kept for the entire planet. At the same time, the situation in Spain has been similar, with the warmest August on record, reaching an average temperature of 25 ºC, above the historical maximum of 24.3 ºC for the same month reached in 2023, and 2 ºC above the historical average, as confirmed by the AEMET (the official Spanish weather agency).
This situation confirms the trend towards warmer summers that all the main meteorological agencies have been warning us about. If we review the trend over the last ten years, we can see that, since 2014, the average summer temperature has increased by 2.1 ºC. According to AEMET data, a trend towards warmer and more extreme summers seems the most plausible explanation. Moreover, they warn, the arrival of abnormally high temperatures both in May and in September and October suggest that not only will it be hotter, but it will be hotter for longer.
The Mediterranean, at risk
Faced with this situation, the European Union has identified the Mediterranean as one of the regions that is most vulnerable to climate change and has listed a set of priorities and actions to mitigate its effects. According to the 2030 Framework on Climate and Energy, the EU aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, with the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
For this reason, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean has identified as their main priorities adaptation to climate change, developing plans to protect coasts and adapt infrastructures to extreme weather events, and the energy transition towards a more efficient model, leading to numerous investments in technology and programmes for the installation of renewable electricity sources. Furthermore, initiatives have been promoted that not only seek to mitigate the effects of climate change, but also attempt to prepare the region for a future in which long, hot summers are the norm.
These initiatives include the promotion of renewable energies, particularly in vulnerable regions; the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, including special monitoring of Mediterranean tapeweed meadows and coral reefs, which are essential for the proper performance of marine habitats; new approaches to urban planning and water management, with more green areas and infrastructures that can provide shelter from the heat, as well as the modernisation of irrigation systems and the reuse of water in the event of possible periods of drought, and the promotion of sustainable tourism, limiting the environmental impact and waste generated by this activity.
Overall, the implementation and resolution of these measures can only be effective if there is a clear commitment and better regional and international cooperation. If we are going to successfully mitigate the effects of an imminent rise in temperatures, we must not waste time.
