Cala Millor Beach (Mallorca)
The Balearic Islands, an archipelago located to the east of the Iberian Peninsula, is very vulnerable to climate change. In the last four decades the temperature has risen by almost three degrees Celsius. It may not seem like much, but the truth is that it is quite a lot if we compare it with what has risen in other parts of the world.
Due to this situation, summer seems to be getting longer and longer, melting and blending with spring, which becomes warmer and warmer as the years go by.
This is revealed by a study published in the international scientific journal »International Journal of Climatology», carried out by the chief researcher of the Meteorology group of the Physics department of the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) Romualdo Romero with collaborators such as Agustí Jansà, former director of the AEMET in the Balearic Islands.
But why? It should be taken into account that the Mediterranean region is a transition zone between arid and temperate climates. The greenhouse effect has caused changes in atmospheric circulation causing the tropical anticyclonic belt, which is what defines summer in the Mediterranean, has expanded to the north. Because of this, the feeling that summers are getting longer is growing.
At the same time, rainfall is scarcer, although this decrease is not as striking as the rise in temperatures. However, due to the melting of the poles, sea level has risen 10 to 20 centimeters in the last century, and it is expected that it will continue to increase between 40 centimeters and a meter more by the end of the century, according to Romero.
If measures are not taken to keep the global average temperature below 2ºC, in 2020 in the Balearic Islands it could increase by 2ºC, and in 2100 to 6ºC.