The haze returns, and it will become more and more normal: AEMET already foresees the first major episode on the peninsula

The first major calima episode of the year on the Peninsula is knocking on the door. And, although images like those of last year are not expected, the intensity of the event is beginning to worry experts. Above all, because the haze goes far beyond orange skies and has a direct impact on our health.

Calm? Again? What’s going on? In recent days, a DANA has been unhooked that is on its way to being located in the northeast of the Canary Islands. This will cause the direction of the winds to change, causing the flows to transport the Saharan dust towards the strait, the Alboran Sea and the south of the peninsula.

The situation it has already started to show in Melilla, but it will be from Thursday (when DANA is located at the exact point) that the haze will also spread to the city of Ceuta and, just after, to the rest of the Peninsula. On Friday, if the models do not fail, it will be the day with the greatest magnitude.

Haze:
?Today and tomorrow in the eastern Canary Islands.
?The rest of the country will be arriving especially from Friday. pic.twitter.com/Pd5efdvj8x

—Silvia Laplana (@slaplana_tve) February 13, 2023

Are the orange skies back? Let’s go by parts. The ‘haze’ is the popular name with which we refer to a very specific meteorological phenomenon: the high presence of tiny solid particles suspended in the atmosphere. Its effects are quite specific: they make the air more opaque, reduce visibility and color the environment. Sometimes, and I emphasize this “sometimes”, they dye the sky in pink, orange or brown colors.

This is very important: the haze of March 15 and 16, 2022 (the one that colored the skies of half of Spain orange and reached Germany) was something tremendously exceptional. The AEMET came to say that seemed the most intense of the last century. If we talk about calima now, we are not referring to that phenomenon. Which doesn’t mean it’s not a problem.

A health problem. During 2022, there were regions of Spain who only breathed clean air for two and a half months. And this has direct consequences for health: studies carried out in the Canary Islands, the hardest-hit area of ​​the country, show that the increase in particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) is related to an increase in hospital emergencies.

In addition, there is a lot of evidence available that proves that very high exposure to this type of fine and very fine particles “increases the risk of suffering coronary diseases and cancers.” That is, the haze is not just an “aesthetic” issue, it is a matter of health interest.

And it is becoming more and more frequent. We’re not quite sure why, but As Juan José Villena pointed outIf we look at it from a historical perspective, we will realize that the power of haze episodes has been increasing in intensity (and frequency) in recent years. We are approaching a new scenario that is going to require changes at the water, health and economic level. And it will require it of us sooner rather than later.

Image | CAMS USA