Photo: Greenpeace

As far as European countries go, Spain is on the front lines of climate change. An already arid part of the world, Spain is currently experiencing the worst drought in 60 years, with the Catalonia region in the northeast declaring a state of emergency. The amount of rain over the past six months is only 56 percent of typical rainfalls and reservoirs are at 50 percent of capacity. According to the Earth Times, poor water policies and waste have also exacerbated the problem to the point where there are real concerns about the availability of drinking water this summer. In Catalonia, they have had almost no rain in the last 18 months, and reservoirs are at only 20 percent of capacity.

All of this poses serious threats to Spain’s agriculture, tourism industry and drinking water supplies. The Catalan region is one of the most popular for tourists and includes the Costa Brava area right on the Mediterranean and the center of Spanish nightlife, Barcelona. Catalan authorities are levying fines for wasteful use of water such as washing cars and filling swimming pools and also looking at shipping in water from other areas. They are also looking at water diversion from the Serge River, a move that is unpopular in other parts of the country and has been blocked by the federal government thus far.

The central government is building new desalinization plants, but these may very well add to Spain’s poor record on greenhouse gas emissions as they require more energy than reservoirs and the shipping of water long distances (for more details on the enviro-impacts of desalinisation plants, read this 5mb PDF). Certainly Spain is going to have to adapt to the reduction in water, and most likely for the long term. They will also need to take serious measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Kyoto protocol, Spain is allowed to increase its emissions 15 percent from 1990 by 2012, but from 1990 to 2004, emissions rose 49 percent, the biggest increase of any of the Kyoto countries.

Lack of rainfall is not the only indicator of the adverse effects of climate change on Spain. Temperatures in Spain overall have already increased 1.5 degrees over the last century, with winters particularly warmer in the South and in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. According to El Pais, rising sea levels from climate change are expected to reduce Spain’s coastline by 15 meters in the coming decades. In addition, a major international study shows that spring is now coming two weeks earlier in Spain, causing 23 more hot days than 30 years ago. This has a tremendous impact on the agricultural cycle in the country, as well as the wildlife. Bears in the northern mountain regions have stopped hibernating and Dung beetles in northern Spain have shifted habitat as temperatures have increased.

Some scientists suggest that things could get a whole lot worse for Spain, with 2.5 degree Celsius increases by 2020 and 5 degree Celsius increases by 2050. At that point, rainfall may have been reduced by as much as 75 percent with Southern Spain essentially becoming a dust bowl. Just last week, a Spanish court barred the construction of a ski station in a nature park in the northern San Gloria mountains, in part ruling that the economic viability was questionable because of climate change. The government has started to address emissions, but their own actions won’t be enough. Predictions are that even if industrial countries successfully curb greenhouse gas emissions, there will be a 3 to 6 degree Celsius increase in the interior of the country and a 4 percent temperature increase on the coast. That’s a lot less rain in Spain.