Annelies Broekman

With the prolonged meteorological drought we find ourselves in, we are focusing too much on climate as its cause, while there is a lack of debate about the real problem: chronic water demand. It is necessary to rethink consumption models with all the actors of society and the competent administrations. A future adapted to climate change must address drought by prioritizing the restoration of our water systems and questioning the current development model.

The hydrological, meteorological and agricultural drought that is being experienced in Spain, especially in some regions, comes after a 2022 that was the warmest and one of the driest since records have been kept. Researchers Sandra García Galiano (UPCT) and Annelies Broekman (CREAF) participated in an informative session of SMC Spain in which they analyzed the causes, consequences and possible solutions to face this complex natural phenomenon.

A study published in Nature shows that, in the face of climate events such as extreme droughts and floods, which are likely to increase as a result of climate change, risk management strategies may not be sufficient. The study analyses 45 pairs of data on such events with an average of 16 years between them, including the Barcelona floods of 1995 and 2018.