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The temperature of the water on the Spanish coasts reached an all-time high for this time, reported the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), which this week has kept a large part of the country on orange alert, of significant risk, and on red warning – which indicates a possible health-threat to some regions, due to an extreme heat wave.
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According to the readings of the State Meteorological Agency of Spain (Aemet) in the coastal areas of the country, the sea temperature reached an average of 24.6 degrees Celsius, in mid-July, some 2.2 degrees more than normal for the season.
The figure “far exceeds the records of the two years previously recorded as the warmest”: 2015, with 24 °C of temperature in the water and 2022, with 23.7 °C.
In addition, it does not have “precedents in mid-July in the entire historical series” that began in 1940, Aemet indicated on its Twitter account.
This situation, in a context of global warming of the oceans, is even more worrisome, since summer is far from over, stressed Rubén del Campo, spokesman for the Agency.
“There is still some way to go for the sea to continue to warm up more,” both in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic, assured Campo, who specified that temperatures above 28ºC have been recorded in the southeastern tip of the peninsula in the Mediterranean.
Spain is going through the third wave of extreme heat of summer
The Spanish territory has suffered an excessive heat wave since the beginning of this week, the third of the summer, caused by the anticyclone Charon in the west of the Mediterranean basin.
On Wednesday, July 19, several provinces in the south and southeast of the nation were on red alert and temperatures exceeded 44 °C in the municipality of Alhama, in Murcia, and 43 °C in other areas of the Murcia provinces. , Málaga and Cádiz, ratified Aemet.
However, the meteorology entity lowered the alert level for this Thursday, July 20, with only two provinces of Murcia on orange alert.
Last Tuesday, the thermometers marked 45.4 °C in Figueres, Catalonia, an absolute record for the northeast region of the country.
In almost all of Spain, except in northern areas, there is a “very high” or “extreme” risk of forest fires, the agency warned.
In addition, on the island of La Palma, in the Atlantic archipelago of the Canary Islands, a forest fire burned nearly 2,900 hectares of forest, according to the latest estimates.
The flames, which forced the temporary evacuation of 4,000 people, continue to burn, although the fire is “stabilized,” experts said.
Due to “a worsening of air quality” due to the smoke from the fire, the authorities asked the inhabitants of the surrounding towns to “reduce their outdoor activities” and wear a mask.
However, the climatic phenomenon is not exclusive to Europe and affects a large part of the planet. China, nations of the Old Continent, the United States and Canada are among the most affected.
