Scorchio! 2020 Was The Hottest Year Ever In Spain But It’s Not Good News- Find Out Why

Scorchio! 2020 Was The Hottest Year Ever In Spain But It’s Not Good News- Find Out Why.

Spain endured its hottest year on record in 2020, including the longest heatwave ever recorded on the Iberian Peninsula.

The average temperature nationwide topped 14.8 degrees Celsius, according to the Environment Ministry. That’s about 1.7 degrees hotter than the pre-industrial average, and above the 1.5-degree target for the world set out in the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change signed in 2015.

Last year was a scorcher across Europe and was the hottest ever year for the continent. Seven of the 10 hottest years in Spain occurred in the last decade, according to the Environment Ministry. Even more worryingly, the average temperature in Spain could rise by as much as five degrees by the end of the century, the Ministry warned.

“Extreme meteorological events of this type cost our country around 700 lives and 900 million euros a year,” the ministry said.

Spain experienced three heatwaves last year and bouts of extreme weather including Storm Gloria which killed 13 people amid record rainfall on the Mediterranean coast last January.

Air pollution is increasing as well, according to the Environment Ministry. The amount of greenhouse gases peaked in 2020 despite a temporary reduction in emissions caused by the lockdown that gripped the nation for much of last year because of Covid-19.

On May 13, Spanish lawmakers passed the country’s first-ever climate change law which aims to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and end the production of fossil fuels by 2042. But critics say it is too little too late.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted, “For the planet, for our future and for the next generations. From today, Spain has a climate law on which to build a green, sustainable, fair, and prosperous future for all.”

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