Temperature increase ...

Over the past 100 years in Europe, the temperature has increased 0.95ºC, but temperature is predicted to rise between 3-7ºC over the next 100 years. Rises in temperatures have been higher in Spain than the rest of Europe; Spain shows an increase of 1.5ºC over the last 100 years, compared to the European average rise of 0.6ºC. The temperature has already increased by 2ºC in regions like Murcia and the EEAU is currently predicting a rise in the average temperature in Spain of around 4ºC by 2080.

It is predicted that, by 2100, temperatures in the inland regions of Spain will have increased by around 5-7ºC in the summer months and by around 3-4ºC in the winter months. Temperatures are predicted to rise less in the coastal regions of Spain, with a rise of around 3-5ºC predicted for the summer and around 1-2ºC in the winter. It is also likely that the temperature will more frequently hit extreme highs.

The effect of these rises in temperatures in Spain are already being felt. The glaciers in the Pyrenees are melting and Spain has already experienced extreme summer conditions. 2003 had a particularly hot and dry summer and about 50 Spaniards officially died from heat. It is predicted that, by the end of the century, extreme summers similar to this will occur every other year in Spain.