Every year heat waves in Spain they are being harsher and leave more damage on the population. As a result, there are also strong forest fires that destroy many hectares of forest land and are large amounts of water. This year is no different from the rest since we are experiencing a fairly strong heat wave that is causing, in turn, large forest fires.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to telling you about the consequences of the heat wave and the seriousness of forest fires.
2022 heat wave
The European heat wave of June 2022 was an unusually early extreme heat event that it affected Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Spain and France, countries already affected by drought, high temperatures favor the appearance of forest fires.
Yesterday, July 18, 2022, a heat wave ended with historical data that began on the 9th of this month in the Canary Islands and ended after 3 days. On the other hand, in the peninsula and in the Balearic Islands the heat wave began on July 10 and has lasted until July 18. This is one of the most impressive heat waves in history.
This heat wave is going to be subject to a study where all the significant facts are going to be verified. One of the most striking facts has been the completion date. The heat wave prediction for the peninsula was between July 10 and 13, at the earliest. However, it has been extended for several more days. All this uncertainty was caused by the position of a DANA and its rather strange displacement which, although very slow, was forming a period of high temperatures due to a dorsal-anticyclone situation.
Because of this, the entire peninsula, or the vast majority of it, have suffered from abnormally high temperatures. Ente 5 and 6 days have exceeded 40 degrees. For example, in Córdoba they have suffered 8 days in a row with more than 42 degrees and 10 more days above 40 degrees.
Another big problem with this type of heat wave is the torrid nights. The heat at night was so great that it almost made it impossible to sleep. Many of the populations of the peninsula have suffered very high nighttime lows that have persisted with values of more than 25 degrees for several days. Many people went to bed with an environment that was around 30 degrees or even higher. These high temperatures make it difficult to sleep well.
Madrid is a great example of these torrid nights. Of the 27 torrid nights recorded throughout the century, more than half have occurred since 2012. These data can help with the verification of the effects of climate change in Spain.
Forest fires
Due to the drought and the high temperatures caused by the heat wave, dozens of forest fires have occurred. Many of them are still active today in a day marked by the great heat wave and the wind that is rekindling some of the fires. One of the most worrying fires is that of Pont de Vilomara (Barcelona). This fire has forced to confine the area and devastated more than a thousand hectares in just 6 hours.
We can also find dozens of active fires in Castilla y León. The most worrying is Monsagro in Salamanca, which has burned more than 9.000 hectares. Other fires are in the spotlight, the one in the Sierra de Mijas is stabilized and it is being investigated whether it was negligence or if it was intentional.
On the other hand we have the Monfragüe fire. This fire has destroyed around 2.500 hectares. Its radio evolution since the fire started caused the eviction of some 500 people from three municipalities. In the face of this fire, they have thought of investing in shepherds so that they can alleviate a little the large amount of dry grasslands that, together with the drought, ended up causing large fires very easy to spread with a bit of high temperatures and with droughts due to lack of rainfall.
What to say that the damage to the fauna of Monfragüe has been devastating since El Coto, Cantalgallo, La Moheda and El Cogujón have been affected, three of them belonging to the Monfragüe National Park and the fourth to the pre-park. The national parks enjoy a wide biodiversity of flora and fauna. Said flora and fauna need natural spaces that are protected and that can preserve all their characteristics. However, the fire has destroyed all the habitat and a large number of populations.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the heat wave and the forest fires of July 2022.