Spain suffered “the most intense” heatwave on record this month, the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has said, as firefighters battled wildfires in the north and west of the country.
In a statement on Sunday, the agency said that provisional readings for the August 3-18 heatwave exceeded the last record, set in July 2022, and showed an average temperature 4.6 degrees Celsius (40.2 Fahrenheit) higher than the expected threshold.
AEMET noted that the most recent heatwave, which saw temperatures reach 43C (109 F), is part of an escalating pattern of warmer summers due to the climate crisis.
“That four of the five most intense heat waves have occurred since 2019 is no coincidence,” it said. “Not every summer will always be warmer than the previous one, but the trend toward more extreme summers is clear. The keys: adaptation and mitigation of climate change.”
Since it began its records in 1975, AEMET has registered 77 heatwaves in Spain, with six of them going 4C (39.2F) or more above the average.
More than 1,100 deaths in Spain have been linked to this year’s August heatwave, according to an estimate released on Tuesday by the Carlos III Health Institute. The heatwave has also exacerbated tinderbox conditions in Spain, fuelling wildfires that continue to ravage parts of the country.
Last week, the Spanish army deployed 3,400 troops and 50 aircraft to help firefighters, while the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia also sent hundreds of firefighters, vehicles and aircraft.
The fires have burned more than 382,000 hectares (944,000 acres) or about 3,820 sq km (1,475 sq miles), according to the European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System.
Most of Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades.
Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Heatwaves and dry conditions, which scientists link to climate change, have become more frequent across the world in recent years.
The World Health Organization has warned, “With climate change leading to warmer temperatures and drier conditions and the increasing urbanization of rural areas, the fire season is starting earlier and ending later.
“Wildfire events are getting more extreme in terms of acres burned, duration and intensity, and they can disrupt transportation, communications, water supply, and power and gas services.”
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