Spain will experience dramatic signs of climate change, say UN experts

Climate change experts at the United Nations have issued a 3,600 page report into impact, adaptation and vulnerability which includes the warning that Spain is one of the places most affected by global warming. The Spanish government is putting measures into effect to try to reduce the effects, but the report says that most places on the planet are not prepared for the consequences of an excess of greenhouse gas emissions.

Among the damaging effects of global warning explained in the report are that more trees will die, desertification will become more exacerbated and there will be a severe reduction in renewable water sources.

The experts say the speed at which climate change is occurring and ecosystems are being degraded affects species’ natural ability to adapt, and they are changing their behaviour, habitat and physiology. Faced with the worst – but probable – scenarios of global warming, evolutionary responses will not be able to prevent extinction and the first to disappear will be animals which are best adapted to the cold.

The report warns that the depth of beaches on the Mediterranean coast will reduce by about one metre; coastal erosion in Mallorca is one of the worst, partly due to human activity and partly due to extreme climate events. As a result, coastal structures and also tourism will be affected.

The experts also point out that the more the temperature rises, the more money is needed to deal with the effects, and that Spain is one of the countries where the financial markets have a greater perception of risk, together with Portugal, Iceland and Germany.