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Why was the flood in Valencia so deadly? What is the connection to climate change?

2024-11-01 09:26:54Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Why was the flood in Valencia so deadly? What is the connection to climate

At least 158 ​​people have died in southern and eastern Spain after deadly floods. That number is expected to rise as searches continue for dozens still missing, some regions have yet to report their casualties and more rain is forecast to hit some of the worst-hit parts of the country.

In some areas, a year's worth of rain fell in just eight hours on Tuesday. Spain's National Meteorological Agency (AEMET) says that in the Chica area of ​​Valencia an "extraordinary" 491 liters per square meter accumulated in eight hours. Inundated by deadly floodwaters, people were trapped in their homes, cars were swept away and bridges were lifted from their foundations.

"This is the dramatic reality of climate change," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, adding that extreme weather events had become "the new normal". "And we must prepare to deal with it, across our Union, and with all the tools at our disposal."

Is climate change to blame for deadly floods in Valencia?

"Images and videos from south-east Spain show the power of water at its most furious," says Dr Linda Speight, lecturer at the University of Oxford's School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE). Unfortunately, these are no longer rare events. Climate change is altering the structure of our weather systems creating conditions where intense storms stall over a region leading to record rainfall a pattern we are seeing time and time again.

Climate scientists and meteorologists blamed the flooding on something called a "low pressure storm system" that had migrated from an extremely wavy and stalled jet stream. This system then blocked the region, dumping a year's worth of rain in eight hours. It is a natural weather event that usually hits Spain in autumn and winter. This phenomenon is so common that it has its own acronym, a DANA or Depresion Aislada en Niveles Altos.

Unusually warm sea surface temperatures, caused much more likely by human-induced climate change, and our warming atmosphere, however, directly affect the amount of rain these storms can carry.

Could Valencia have been better prepared for the extreme weather?

Local authorities have been criticized for failing to issue timely warnings of potential storm hazards. Valencia's government has admitted it only sent text messages warning residents of the disaster eight hours after the floods were first reported and 10 hours after AEMET issued an "extreme risk" warning in the region.

This brief message sent shortly after 8pm on Tuesday came too late for many people who were already trapped in their homes, shops or cars on the road as deadly floods hit.


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