Expert reaction to flash floods in south-eastern Spain

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-flash-floods-in-south-eastern-spain/

Dr Carola Koenig, a Reader from the Centre for Flood Risk and Resilience, Brunel University of London, said:

“Unquestionably, climate change is the key contributing factor in these extreme rain events. The Mediterranean has seen the warmest surface water temperature on record with a mean temperature of 28.47°C in mid-August. This facilitates a greater uptake of moisture in the air, resulting in more rain when the atmosphere starts to cool in the autumn. As things stand, Spain needs to embrace itself for continued heavy rain for the next few days.”


Prof Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts & Director of the Centre for Climate and Environmental Resilience, Newcastle University, said:

“Warmer temperatures cause the intensification of rainfall at all durations, and these large storms, cut off from the jet stream, are able to stagnate in one place and produce huge amounts of rainfall, fuelled by increased moisture and energy from oceans that are record-shatteringly hot. These ‘blocked’ slow-moving storms appear to be becoming more frequent in Europe and are projected to increase further with additional warming. The question is not whether we need to adapt for more of these types of storm, but can we? These storms will become even more intense, causing more flooding, in our warming climate. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible will reduce the future risks from these events”


Dr Marilena Oltmanns, Research Scientist, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), said:

“Higher sea surface temperatures have been identified as a key driver of strong wind storms in the mediterranean region.

“Climate change leads to higher air temperatures. In turn, warmer air can hold more water vapour. For every 1 °C warming, the air can hold 7% more moisture. In turn, increased water vapour can cause heavier rainfall. Given the long-term warming trend, both in the sea surface temperatures in the mediterranean region and the global air temperature, we expect the events like the currently observed one in Spain to become more frequent.”