Sea temperature increases the risk of flooding in the Islands

PalmThe President of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, has announced the creation of a new agency to address the risk of flooding in the Balearic Islands. With the memory of the tragedy of the flood in the Valencian Community in October in mind, the Executive branch aims to prevent a similar situation in the archipelago. This natural phenomenon is the main danger—more so than fires—in the islands, and the risk is increasing due to the rise in sea temperatures, which this year reached record levels. According to the latest data from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), the average temperature in June was 3.8 degrees warmer than usual, at almost 27 degrees. This figure is typical for August, when the warmest temperature of the year is peaking.

"The rise in sea temperature leads to a higher rate of water evaporation. This is an important factor in the genesis of storms caused by collisions with cold air masses. This situation causes more water to be discharged onto the surface because more water evaporates," explains Pablo, the Government's Director General of Emergencies. Added to this are the specific characteristics of the islands, a territory vulnerable to flooding. "Our risk profile derives from two basic phenomena. The first is meteorological, which is the typical and traditional one, called gota fría and dana, consisting of torrential rains," he explains. "To this must be added the geomorphological factor, which gives us short basins and, in some cases, very steep ones," he continues. "The torrents can become very loaded in a short period of time and at considerable speed."

A scientific article by Meteoclimática (an initiative of the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications) in collaboration with Aemet (Aemet) warned in July of the constant rise in temperature in the Mediterranean over the last four decades. A phenomenon that was attributed to "climate change caused by human activity." "If we analyze the average summer temperatures in the Mediterranean since 1986, we can see that they have been progressively increasing," the article explained. "The highest summer temperature (from June 1 to August 31) between 1986 and 1995 was 28.4 degrees in the waters near the Suez Canal, in Egypt," the text noted. "The lowest was at the opposite extreme, in the Strait of Gibraltar, at 19.1 degrees." In contrast, the average for the last decade is 1.5 degrees higher than the Suez Canal, while it remains stable in Gibraltar (19.2 degrees). Experts have warned that this heat wave could contribute to storms.

The government set up a specific working group on Monday to develop action plans to address the risk of flooding. "Administrative areas that until now have worked behind each other's backs are being coordinated," Prohens emphasized. Sources from the Directorate General of Water Resources explain that more than 310 kilometers have been cleared since 2023, with an investment of €17 million by 2025.