Water finds its way and Leonardo already knew it
In the Codex Leicester, Leonardo da Vinci directed his talent for understanding the world toward studying water. He observed its whirlpools, currents, and ability to erode the earth to understand how the same force could create life, shape the landscape, and cause catastrophes. And that is where I want to go, to the catastrophes. Because five centuries later, faced with the latest DANA that has affected the Balearic Islands and awakened forgotten torrents, we can ask ourselves what we are doing to adapt to a climate situation that is no longer a surprise. And I mean what we are doing besides cleaning storm drains, removing leaves, and fixing torrents to prevent flooding. By the way, another Codex could be written about the difference between cleaning torrents and leaving them dead. But let's take it step by step.
Storm Adam has left hundreds of incidents and images that are still unusual in the Archipelago – blocked roads, flooded houses, waterfalls on the cliffs of Formentera, and vanished beaches – and has broken precipitation records for an October in the Pityusic Islands, with the highest volume recorded in 75 years. The images that seemed most significant to me are those of overflowing torrents that have devastated beaches, sweeping away sun loungers, coastal boardwalks, and lifeguard towers. Entire beaches have lost their sand. These images are what give me the measure of the enormous distance that exists between what we know today about climate change and the way we respond to it. And they are because I know perfectly well that, when all the water has filtered into the groundwater layers or reached the sea, when calm returns, we will commit the same mistakes as always; we will rebuild boardwalks, even build new ones, and we will continue thinking that we can continue living as if nothing had happened.
Leonardo was not satisfied with just contemplating water, but wanted to understand its movement and knew that obstacles modified currents and that the shapes of the bed and the banks conditioned erosion. A torrent is not a geographical accident that we can ignore because for months, years, or decades no water has flowed through it. It is a part of the natural system that collects and conducts runoff towards the sea and when an extraordinary precipitation arrives, the water recovers its space and finds the way to the sea. Whether you like it or not. And if, to clean it, we rip out all the vegetation from the torrent that would slow down the speed of the water, we are already doing it wrong. But there is more, because often in these torrents or ancient water courses we have built and installed things. Whatever it may be. Things. And water does not recognize urban planning licenses or concessions.
How much of the consequences of Adam depends on the meteorological phenomenon itself and how much, on the way we have transformed the territory?
We have waterproofed soils, occupied floodplains, multiplied infrastructure, and oversaturated the coast in the name of tourism. All without assuming the hydrological consequences of these actions. And the most worrying thing is that we will follow the same reckless path because the lobbies of pressure from the Islands will not let the machinery stop, even if it destroys us all.
Climate models warn us that the Mediterranean is especially vulnerable to global warming. A warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor and favor more intense precipitation when the right conditions are met. Fuel. This does not mean that every DANA is exclusively attributable to climate change, nor that science can predict with exactitude the details of every episode; it means that we must do everything possible, on one hand, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost natural carbon sinks by protecting ecosystems and, on the other hand, to adapt to the effects we can no longer avoid, such as catastrophic storms. We must renaturalize the coasts, to begin with, and understand that, whether due to storm surges, sea-level rise, or water from torrents, coastal installations have their days numbered.
But neither reduction nor mitigation. We are doing neither one thing nor the other. While scientists point out the meteorite to us, the Islands are increasing air connections, the number of passengers, private flights, construction, pressure on resources… Furthermore, as if all this were not enough, now we will build housing with the money from the tourist tax. That is to say, money that should be used to repair the damage caused by tourism will be invested in continuing to build on islands where there is too much cement and a lack of environmental culture. “More wood”, as Groucho Marx would say.
We will not adapt to a changing climate if we insist on keeping intact the growth model that multiplies our vulnerability.
