Unprecedented warmth: A look at Spain's exceptional summer of 2022

Serrano‐Notivoli, Roberto; Tejedor, Ernesto; Sarricolea, Pablo; Meseguer-Ruiz, Óliver; Luis, Martín de; Saz, Miguel Ángel; Longares, Luis Alberto; Cantos, Jorge Olcina

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.106931

Cited by 31 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…In our modelling work, we considered the temperature-and precipitation-related bioclimatic drivers of fire events. The summer months in Spain over the last decades have witnessed a major increase in extreme heat waves and drought conditions [55,56]. Our analysis showed that fires are driven by population, elevation, distance to streams, and extreme precipitation-related variables such as the precipitation of the wettest month, the precipitation of the driest month, the precipitation of the wettest quarter, and the precipitation of the coldest quarter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Exploring Drivers of Wildfires in Spain

Hammed,

Alawode,

Montoya

et al. 2024

Land

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Wildfires play a dual role in ecosystems by providing ecological benefits while posing catastrophic events; they also inflict non-catastrophic damage and yield long-term effects on biodiversity, soil quality, and air quality, among other factors, including public health. This study analysed the key determinants of wildland fires in Spain using openly available spatial data from 2008 to 2021, including fire perimeters, bioclimatic variables, topography, and socioeconomic datasets, at a resolution of 1 km2. Our methodology combined principal component analysis (PCA), linear regression analysis, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Our findings show that scrub/herbaceous vegetation (average 63 ± 1.45% SE) and forests (average 19 ± 0.76% SE) have been highly susceptible to wildfires. The population density exhibited a robust positive correlation with wildfire frequency (R2 = 0.88, p < 0.0001). Although the study provides insights into some fire-related climatic drivers over Spain, it includes only temperature and precipitation-based variables and does not explicitly consider fuel dynamics. Therefore, a more advanced methodology should be applied in the future to understand the local specifics of regional wildfire dynamics. Our study identified that scrub/herbaceous areas and forests near densely populated regions should be prioritised for wildfire management in Spain, particularly under changing climate conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Exploring Drivers of Wildfires in Spain

Hammed,

Alawode,

Montoya

et al. 2024

Land

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“…The summer of 2022 presented prolonged and intense heat waves in the Iberian Peninsula. A persistent, record‐breaking MHW, lasting 6 weeks with temperatures anomalies averaging +3.27°C, occurred in the Western Mediterranean (Serrano‐Notivoli et al., 2023). The SST anomaly in the surroundings of Gerona's littoral coast on 30 August 2022, has been the highest recorded in the period 1940–2021 (Figures 1b and 1c), which enabled surface fluxes to increase the atmospheric moisture content and the convective energy over the area.…”

Section: Mhw and Acc Effects On The Giant Hail Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can consequently contribute to greater potential instability that offsets expected reductions in deep‐bulk wind shear on observed rawinsonde profiles (Taszarek, Allen, Brooks, et al., 2021; Taszarek, Allen, Marchio, & Brooks, 2021) expected in future climate scenarios (Lepore et al., 2021)—an important ingredient determining organization and severity of convective storms (Brooks et al., 2003; Del Genio et al., 2007; Muramatsu et al., 2016; Peters et al., 2019; Trapp et al., 2007, 2009). In the western Mediterranean, MHWs significantly impact air temperature and summer precipitation (Serrano‐Notivoli et al., 2023). Thus, the SST influence on localized convective hazards like tornadoes, giant hail, or severe wind gusts are gaining attention (Ashley et al., 2023; González‐Alemán et al., 2023; Miglietta et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major Role of Marine Heatwave and Anthropogenic Climate Change on a Giant Hail Event in Spain

Martín,

Calvo‐Sancho,

Taszarek

et al. 2024

Geophysical Research Letters

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A severe hailstorm that occurred in Spain on 30 August 2022, caused material and human damage, including one fatality due to giant hailstones up to 12 cm in diameter. By applying a pseudo‐global warming approach, here we evaluate how a simultaneous marine heatwave (and anthropogenic climate change) affected a unique environment conductive to such giant hailstones. The main results show that the supercell development was influenced by an unprecedented amount of convective available energy, with significant contributions from thermodynamic factors. Numerical simulations where the marine heatwave is not present show a notable reduction in the hail‐favorable environments, related mainly to modifications in thermodynamic environment. Our simulations also indicate that the environment in a preindustrial‐like climate would be less favorable for convective hazards and thus the hailstorm event would likely not have been as severe as the observed one, being possible to perform a novel attribution of such kind.

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“…Specifically in Spain, where this study was conducted, the Spanish National Research Council (MNCN-CSIC) shows that the summer 2022 was the hottest on record, and during it, Spain experienced record-breaking heatwaves [5] that caused high associated mortality (the longest heatwave of 2022 was associated with 11,324 deaths (95% CI = 7908-14,880) [6]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facing Climate Change in a Temperate European City: Urban-Scale Diagnosis of Indoor Overheating and Adaptation Strategies for Residential Buildings

Arriazu-Ramos,

Pons Izquierdo,

Ramos Ruiz

et al. 2024

Buildings

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The rise in outdoor temperatures and heatwaves highlights the limitations of buildings in adapting to warming conditions, even in temperate climates. This paper analyses the indoor overheating of residential dwellings in Pamplona (a city in northern Spain, with a Cfb climate) using an urban-scale diagnostic methodology and presents different envelopes’ retrofitting scenarios as a strategy to reduce it. The results come from energy simulations conducted during an extremely warm summer in 2022, considering the microclimate effects. The residential typologies most vulnerable to overheating are those with only one orientation, built before the EPBD 2002, and located on top floors. These dwellings show a 23.7% mean of indoor overheating hours (IOH), representing approximately 870 h above the EN 16798-1:2019 adaptive threshold from May to September. Renovating building envelopes to meet current energy standards reduces the IOH by an average of 8.6% and up to 15.35% in the most vulnerable typologies. In the retrofitting scenario with green roof systems, indoor temperatures are up to 0.5 °C lower than when roofs are renovated with traditional systems. This study assists policy-makers in preventing the risk of overheating within cities and encourages them to promote nature-based solutions in order to adapt urban residential buildings and cities to warming conditions.

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Unprecedented warmth: A look at Spain's exceptional summer of 2022

Cited by 31 publications

References 75 publications

Exploring Drivers of Wildfires in Spain

Exploring Drivers of Wildfires in Spain

Major Role of Marine Heatwave and Anthropogenic Climate Change on a Giant Hail Event in Spain

Facing Climate Change in a Temperate European City: Urban-Scale Diagnosis of Indoor Overheating and Adaptation Strategies for Residential Buildings

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