The effects of climate change are making extreme weather events more frequent and intense. In Catalonia, this autumn will be marked by extreme rainfall fueled by this summer's temperatures, which have left a thermal anomaly of four degrees above average in the sea water temperature. For this reason, the Civil Protection of the Generalitat has issued a warning about the risks that sudden and intense downpours can entail. The administration has called for caution and is also considering using ES-Alert messages when there are episodes of unforeseen torrential rain to warn of potential damage.

The world knew that the next El Niño would be powerful, but this Thursday, forecasts confirmed that this climatic phenomenon will be of great intensity and will have unpredictable consequences. The UN warns that the peak of this episode will be experienced at the end of 2026, but that it will extend until 2027, a year that could become the warmest recorded to date.

Drought is not just a problem at home: it is a phenomenon that has increased by 30% since 2000 worldwide. In fact, it is estimated that by 2050, three out of every four inhabitants of the planet will be affected by drought. Even so, the United States has blocked a global agreement against drought and has postponed international negotiations on this issue until 2028. All the world's governments gathered in Mongolia this August have not managed to sign a binding treaty in this regard, but they have announced that they will mobilize 1.3 billion dollars to restore land and combat desertification in 23 states. The protocol to finance these projects, however, was to be defined within this global agreement against drought, which has been left pending.

Yesterday, early in the morning, in Torredembarra, the sound of working chainsaws could be heard. It was the day after the storm. The new episode of violent weather had caused about fifty trees to fall in different parts of the municipality, and they needed to be removed. Some were blocking the way, others had fallen on parked vehicles or could pose a danger to pedestrians. A large cypress tree fell on two cars on Monday afternoon. One was driving with four people inside, one of whom was hit on the head and had to be taken to the Municipal Primary Care Center (CAP) for treatment. Precisely, another tree had fallen and affected the pediatrics module of this facility, and by night it had already been intervened to remove it. Some shops were closed with staff trying to remove the water that had entered the premises as best they could.

In the collective imagination, there has long been an almost direct relationship between the high temperature the sea reaches during summer and the possibility of torrential downpours in autumn. This thought, combined with the experience of the devastating dana that affected the Valencian Community in the autumn of 2024, makes it not unusual to wonder if such an extraordinary episode of torrential rains could be repeated this year.

Market logic justifies that what is only within reach of a few generally increases its value. This dynamic that sets the price of goods and services also infiltrates human behaviors, which end up conditioning decision-making. But what happens when what is at stake is an element on which the daily lives of citizens depend? The tension between the desire to collect travel experiences and to ensure the lives of the population of a vulnerable territory is what highlights the dynamics of tourism in the midst of an ecological crisis.Already in 2007, the award-winning editor-in-chief of the digital publication Travel Age West, Kenneth Shapiro, gave a name to a tourism phenomenon that was then beginning to proliferate: last-chance tourism. At that time, the concept referred to trips to areas threatened by environmental changes, such as the imminent threat of a volcano eruption or an expedition to observe an endangered species, among others. Over the years and with scientific evidence that the ecological crisis affects every corner of the planet, this word used in the jargon of travel agencies and nomadic gurus has undergone some nuance. Now, last-chance tourism is also the experience of visiting destinations that are at risk of disappearing or radically changing in the coming years due to damage caused by human pressure. Examples include visiting Australia's Great Barrier Reef, due to ocean acidification and rising water temperatures; or the Maldives islands, due to rising sea levels.Living between the thaw and the AMOC

But there is no need to change continents to observe the loss of ecosystems in areas where tourism plays a significant role. “In Iceland, the most evident change at first glance caused by the climate crisis is the retreat of glaciers. It is something that can be perceived even when comparing photographs taken just a few days or weeks apart,” explains Catalan photographer Natàlia Antequera, who lived in this Nordic country from 2021 to 2024. The Arctic is the region in the world suffering the highest temperature increase and, as a result, causes Iceland to lose 10 billion tons of ice per year, according to NASA data.At this rate, the European island could run out of ice by the year 2200. In nature's balance, every element plays its part, and melting is not only a sign of collapse in itself, but also a trigger. Specifically, in recent years, Nordic countries have been suffering from the stoppage of the AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation), the part of the thermohaline circulation that passes by the Icelandic coasts and plays a key role in regulating the climate in the Northern Hemisphere. This danger prompted the island's government to declare the AMOC a national threat last November, becoming the first European state to take this stance.

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Heat waves are becoming increasingly common, and beyond meteorological alerts, these mercury spikes also test the capacity of our cities. "We are building buildings for a climate that no longer exists," asserts Pablo Martínez, architect and founder of the think tank Trescientosmil. He is one of the authors of the'Atlas of Heat Vulnerability, developed together with the earth sciences department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - National Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS). This is a visual tool that collects up to 70 climate simulations to map out which cities in Spain will suffer more heat waves in the future, which will need more cooling measures, and which are less prepared to face them by 2050.

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Barcelona darkened prematurely for a few seconds. And even when the Sun was still shining, it was noticeable that it was not a normal day. The terraces on Rambla de Catalunya were half empty, a strange occurrence for a day in the first half of August. “You can tell it’s eclipse day,” explained Arantxa, a waitress, with less work than usual. In the Plaça de Catalunya area, however, some Barcelonans were having beers at La Sureña and did not hide that they were a few haters of the eclipse. They had no problem admitting it. "I don't care about the eclipse, I'm fed up with it," Marta said. "The only thing we'll do is light a cigarette when it starts. We'll see which lasts longer, the eclipse or the cigarette," Sergi said, laughing. They think she's making a mountain out of a molehill.

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Only a few hours remain until the historic total solar eclipse that will take place this Wednesday, August 12th. A phenomenon that has not occurred in our region for 121 years and which is causing great anticipation, both locally and internationally.

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Surely many of you, upon arriving at the beach, have commented with your surroundings on the high temperature of the sea this year. Well yes, it's not just a feeling: a large part of the Mediterranean, and specifically its western sector, is experiencing an intense marine heatwave since the end of May.

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Few times has an astronomical phenomenon concentrated so much popular expectation and scientific interest at the same time. The total solar eclipse next Wednesday, August 12, will not only be a milestone for millions of people who will have the opportunity to contemplate one of the most extraordinary spectacles that nature offers. It will also represent an exceptional opportunity to test instruments, validate scientific models, and obtain data that, under normal conditions, are simply impossible to achieve. Catalonia and the Peninsula will be the global epicenter of astronomy.

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During the summer, thousands of people go out to enjoy nature, from walks in forests or along a river to excursions in some of the country's natural parks. And yet, although many, being prepared, might put a small first-aid kit with mosquito repellent, disinfectant, or gauze in our backpack to deal with small unforeseen events, few think about the much less obvious risk that lies behind such a common and seemingly harmless gesture as picking a bunch of wildflowers or tasting some berries, which in some cases can end up in the emergency room.

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El Niño is already a reality. It has been developing for months in the Pacific Ocean with a constant warming of subtropical waters, and from the outset it has been labeled a super-Niño, as the oceanic temperature anomaly is the highest recorded to date. The latest data indicate that these waters have exceeded 4 ºC above the average, a value never seen since records began.

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Discomfort, repetitive checks on the mobile phone and anguish at not knowing what they will find when the flames allow them to access their municipalities. Four days after the start of the fire that has already scorched 10,000 hectares of the Espadà mountain range - in a perimeter of up to 75.5 km -, a green lung and an identity symbol of the regions of Castelló, the atmosphere in the pavilion of the Valencian town of Nules is one of exhaustion. Also contradictory feelings due to the desire to regain normality and the fear of realizing that what was once a natural treasure is now just ash. "I'm not ready to go back and see it all burnt, I know I'll need time," summarizes Yolany Dávila, a resident of La Vilavella.

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Race against time to try to stabilize the fire that since Saturday has been devouring the Espadà mountain range, the green lung of the north of the Valencian Country and an identity symbol of the regions of Castelló. So far, the fire has burned more than 8,500 hectares, has reached a perimeter of 72 kilometers and has forced the evacuation of 16,000 people from 18 towns and the confinement of 64,000 — from the cities of Onda, la Vall d'Uixó and Betxí —. This Monday evening, it was confirmed that 6,000 residents from four neighborhoods in la Vall d’Uixó could return home, although they had to remain confined until this Tuesday at eight in the morning. At an early hour, restrictions in other towns will also be assessed.

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After a weekend of immense efforts to extinguish them, the flames continue to ravage various parts of the State affected by the fires. The forest fire that originated on Wednesday in Burgohondo (Ávila) has burned 50,000 hectares and covers a perimeter of about 280 kilometers. According to the third vice-president of the Spanish government, Sara Aagesen, it has become the largest in recent history in the State. This Sunday afternoon, the wind still gave it more strength, and since Friday it has become complicated due to the simultaneity with the Madrid fire, which has affected more than 25,000 hectares. Added to the 2,000 that have also been scorched in Toledo, this front – which ishas been jointly fighting as a single fire since Saturday– has burned 77,000 hectares in total. In addition, it has affected 90,000 people: 60,000 evacuated and 30,000 confined.

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The fires in Madrid and Ávila continue without control. Mid-morning, seeing the evolution of the fires, the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) decided to create a “unified emergency command” to work with a single sector: “It is the best way to manage and save time”, justified Francisco Javier Marcos, head of the UME, from the advanced command post in Cenicientos. “Treating this catastrophe and this fire as one [...] will contribute to the efficiency, coordination, and agility of all the decisions we make”, he stressed. But the presence of the authorities in this municipality eighty kilometers from the capital was numbered. In the evening, the territory under joint operational direction was also extended to the province of Toledo.

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Barcelona suffers from a serious problem of nocturnal warming, which particularly affects the elderly and causes more deaths during the night than during the day. This is one of the main conclusions reached by the authors of two pending publications from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). The authors attribute this reality to, among other factors, the lack of sufficient public alert measures and the fact that the energy performance certification system for homes in Spain has become outdated.

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Little could they imagine that their research on the role of freshwater ecosystems in the climate crisis would end up becoming an epic and risky adventure into the unknown. In 2022, a small group of Catalan researchers embarked on an expedition in the purest Shackleton style to the heart of the Aral Sea. What decades ago had been the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world and one of the main climatic regulators of Central Asia, is today a desolate desert of sand and salt, a vestige of one of the greatest environmental disasters caused by human action. 

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The heatwave that choked much of Western and Central Europe in late June also led to a surge in deaths on the continent. According to data published by EuroMOMO – a network that, with the support of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization, maps excess mortality compared to other years – European countries registered more than 10,000 deaths above average during the days of the unprecedented intense and widespread heat episode.

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