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.

Until now, Denmark has been a country recognized for its prestigious interior design firms, its pioneering commitment to sustainability and renewable energy, and for hosting some of the best haute cuisine restaurants in the world in the city of Copenhagen. Probably, when we think of a Scandinavian country, the first image that comes to mind is not that of tasting a glass of wine produced in a local winery. However, due to the effects of climate change, the countries of northern Europe are gaining prominence in wine production, where they see that they have a promising future.This is the case for Danish viticulture, which in the last five years has experienced a notable qualitative leap, driven by a handful of daring and visionary producers pushed by curiosity, who for the first time are managing to produce high-quality wines. This is reaffirmed by the journalist and wine critic for the Danish newspaper Politiken, Thomas Ilkjær, who asserts that the Danish wine sector “is today at a very exciting moment”. 10 years ago, wine production in cold climates like Scandinavia was considered a losing bet, but now the sector is in turmoil: “I believe that in 50 years we will look back and see that we are at the exact moment when everything began to grow,” says Ilkjær.Until now, the long, cold, and dark winters typical of the latitude of the Nordic countries had been the main obstacle to wine production. But global warming has caused the producing countries of southern Europe to face overripe grape berries with a high alcohol content, while Denmark has opened the door to the production of wines "with a marked acidity, a lot of minerality, and great freshness," asserts Ilkjær, a fact that is increasingly convincing gastronomic critics and restaurateurs.Regarding the number of Danish wine producers, in the last two decades it has gone from 10 to 150 professional wineries (with more than 1,000 amateur winegrowers) and new ones emerge every year. This has meant that in just six years the production of Danish wine has tripled and the sector is clearly on the rise. All this, despite the fact that Denmark's history as a wine-producing country only began in the year 2000, when the commercial cultivation of vineyards was approved under European Union regulations.According to the University of Copenhagen, the area dedicated to vineyards in the Nordic country is 250 hectares, of which 90% produce wine certified as organic. But although the production of Danish wine has increased and the quality has improved, the wine industry is still in its early stages, especially if we compare it with other countries like Catalonia, where there are 55,000 hectares of vineyards planted.In our country, a trend among Catalan wine producers to overcome the challenges of heatwaves and unpredictable weather is to relocate wine production by seeking cooler climates, for example by cultivating vineyards on higher mountain slopes, such as in the Pyrenees. In this sense, Danish producers feel they have the effects of climate change in their favor, as climatological studies predict that within 50 years the climatic conditions of the Nordic country could resemble areas of northern France or the Champagne region, with a cool climate, abundant rain, sporadic spring frosts, and warmer summers.Even with the clear effects of global warming, it does not mean that it is now easy to produce wine in Denmark, but "climate change has made it possible, or at least it has helped to improve the quality of the wines," says Ilkjær. Currently, the growing season in the Nordic country begins in April and the harvest does not take place until October, when the grapes have already ripened. During these months, the average temperature is about 13 degrees, an increase of 0.8 degrees compared to the 1960-1990 period. Regarding this, it is estimated that sunshine hours have increased by 15% on average, a decisive factor for producing wine. However, "we still have a cool climate, with the risk that some years it may be practically impossible to make wine, therefore, it is a challenge that one cannot fully rely on the climate, and this makes it difficult for producers to risk everything in a business as uncertain as wine production in Denmark," asserts Ilkjær.Most of the vineyards in Denmark are located no less than 10 km from the Baltic Sea and North Sea coast, spread across the country, from the Jutland peninsula to the island of Bornholm. The most used variety for white wine production is Solaris, appreciated for its resistance to cold weather, as well as for its early ripening capacity. Regarding red wines, the Rondo variety stands out especially, widely spread in Germany and the south of England. But if Danish wines are achieving greater projection it is thanks to the production of sparkling wines, which already represents nearly 20% of the country's total production.“A dream and a challenge to make wine here”

Amidst a green landscape, winding roads that cross small villages, and ancient stately castles, the island of Funen (Fyn) holds a postcard charm. In this bucolic location lies the By Stokkebye estate, a family winery that produces 20,000 bottles of one of the country's most prestigious sparkling wines each year. “It all started as a hobby in 2009”, for me it was like a dream and a challenge to be able to plant wine here, but I was sure I could achieve it, says Jacob Stokkebye, who runs the winery together with his wife, Helle. However, the path was not easy, and in the beginning, they had to throw away the wine because the quality was not good enough. This led Jacob to seek advice from French wine producers, who have helped him craft a wine inspired by the traditional champagne method.Today, the winery is one of the few that chooses to plant the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varieties, even though they are less adapted to the rainy climate and frozen winters: "Part of our success is that we are located next to the sea where the wind always blows, this helps to dry the rain from the vineyard quickly," says Jacob.

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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.

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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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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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Even in the middle of the morning, the activity at the Blanes fishermen's guild is frantic: a coming and going of boxes full of anchovies and sardines, and mullets and other fish, arriving at this Girona fish market for auction. Unaware of this hustle and bustle and sheltered under the jetties, about forty individuals rest, impassive, in enormous water tanks. Some have only been here a short while and are recovering, waiting for their moment to come. Others are already prepared and will return to the sea soon.

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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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Every June 8, World Oceans Day invites us to reflect on the health of this vast blue frontier that regulates life on Earth. This year, the commemoration arrives with an air of cautious victory following the historic adoption by the UN of the High Seas Treaty, a legal framework designed to protect biodiversity in waters that do not belong to any country and which represent two-thirds of the marine surface. However, to understand the global health of the ocean, sometimes you have to look at what is small. 

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When this evening, in all corners of the Catalan Countries, the fire of the Flame of Canigó arrives, the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands will still be under the governmental binomials of PP and Vox, the xenophobic arsonists will be accumulating firewood in the Principality with the intention of lighting it soon and in North Catalonia, months ago the far-right – from Perpignan to Elna – imposed themselves in the first round. Their uncontrolled fires – where everything burns, from language to country, from biodiversity to the future – are not ours. But surrounded by the global far-right wave, perhaps from up there – the walls of the monastery of Cuixà, let's say – they will be able to tell us in perspective that if we get right what needs to be done, we have come out of worse situations, when they have seen it all. For example, that only 50 years ago we still lived under a dictatorship, there was no trace of democratic elections and death sentences were signed. Perhaps they will remind us that everything goes very fast when it comes to dismantling what has been built and everything goes exasperatingly slow when it comes to moving forward. In form and substance, no news. Not a single one. That some things mutate rapidly and others never change. That the bank wins and the State wins. Almost always.Last Saturday, Marc Castellnou, from the GRAF of the Generalitat Firefighters, said that fires are very good teachers but very bad students. For decades he has also told us that fires are extinguished in winter and that our ecosystem concentrates the fourteen possible types of fires – that is, all existing options. And that after years of turning a deaf ear, we are now beginning to pay attention to what has not been done and what still remains to be done. It is quite eloquent to apply the three fire-fighting maxims of the firefighters to the accelerated devaluation of democracy in the era of global fires. Which range from the Strait of Hormuz to a nihilistic billionaire in Colombia, from a shooting on Balmes street to the mass eviction of a building in La Mina this week, from devastated Gaza to German and Japanese rearmament, from Infantino's corrupt World Cup to Musk's tweet about Belfast – or Albiol's in Badalona. Fires provoked everywhere by the scorched earth profiteers. However, it was not they who left the land barren and the undergrowth neglected. Three maxims: that we do not learn, that what needed to be done has not been done, and that anything can happen on the ultra-revell that ignites the world.

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Catalonia is advancing unstoppably towards an increasingly warm and dry climate. 2025 has been the fourth consecutive year with an annual temperature of more than 2°C above the average of the pre-industrial period (1850-1900). Therefore, since 2022, temperatures have soared like never before. And they have been exceptionally warm. These last four years mark the path towards the worst predictions of the impact of the climate crisis and global warming in our country.

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Almost all children in the world face at least one climate threat. But nearly half – about 1.1 billion children – are exposed to three different climate threats that put their health and survival at risk, according to the report Children’s climate risk report 2026, published this Tuesday by Unicef.

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Global warming is advancing and temperatures continue to rise relentlessly. This spring has been no exception. In fact, Catalonia has experienced the warmest spring since records began, according to data from the seasonal climate bulletin published by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (Meteocat). This report covers the three months of meteorological spring – March, May, and June – even though astronomical summer will not officially arrive until June 21.

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In May of last year, workers at NASA's Goddard Laboratory received the order to go home and work remotely. The Trump administration was rescinding the lease on the building where, since the 1960s, this institute has led the climate and Earth research of the North American space agency. It was an attempt to dismantle the center, which preceded the threat of total closure proposed by the White House in its budget for NASA last year. Fortunately, Congress halted that massive funding cut. But that did not prevent the purge of the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk from targeting NASA's Earth science program and other U.S. scientific agencies that are crucial for global climate research.

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The last precedents of strong or very strong El Niño episodes left worrying data that were exacerbated by the influence of global warming. The super El Niño of 2015-2016 was the most powerful on record, with an oceanic warming index of more than 2.5 ºC. An extraordinary fact that contributed to 2016 being the warmest year recorded worldwide up to then.

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The world is looking towards the Pacific with unease. Forecasts from major international climate agencies warn of the probable formation of what has popularly been dubbed a super-Niño over the coming months in this area of the planet. An episode of the El Niño phenomenon much more intense than usual, capable of shaking global climate. Its consequences could range from extreme droughts to torrential rains in different parts of the planet, but above all due to a clear and general rise in temperatures.

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El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that occurs when the surface waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean warm more than usual. This warming alters the usual large-scale circulation of winds and rainfall. Normally, trade winds push warm water westward in the Pacific, near Indonesia and Australia. But when these winds weaken, the warm water shifts towards the central and eastern Pacific, especially off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador. This causes the sea temperature to rise and alters precipitation.

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Forecasts from various international climate agencies indicate that we are on the verge of an El Niño episode that could be one of the most intense in decades. Popularly, it has been nicknamed Superniño, and its effects will be global, especially with more extreme heat. We analyze this phenomenon and what impact it may have in Catalonia.

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Carlos Duarte (Lisbon, 1960) is one of the most prestigious oceanographers in the world. He now resides in Mallorca, but has lived in Catalonia, Canada, Australia, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. His lectures always provide revealing data about the sea, some alarming. But he always tries to find an optimistic approach in turbulent times. Duarte, moreover, is the scientific advisor for the congress 'Encuentro de los Mares' (Meeting of the Seas), held in Tenerife, where the scientific community, fishermen, and chefs meet for four days to exchange knowledge.

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Amitav Ghosh (Calcutta, 1956), one of India's most important fiction writers, has for many years placed his pen at the service of climate activism. Ten years ago he published in English The great derangement: climate change and the unthinkable (now available in Spanish published by Capitán Swing with the title El gran delirio. Cambio climático y lo impensable). As he explained these days in the CCCB debates, Ghosh understands this "great derangement" as a collective disorder that makes us all incapable of assuming the gravity and reacting adequately to the climate emergency. An incapacity that he particularly denounces within literature.

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Very few people know that oil was produced in Collserola. In the middle of the last century, owners of farmhouses in this mountain range surrounding Barcelona owned olive trees, made self-consumption oil from them, and sold the surplus. But with the abandonment of the countryside throughout Catalonia, all this productive activity was also lost and the olive trees of Collserola, some centuries old, were swallowed by the forest. If in 1956 21.5% of Collserola were cultivated land, now it is only 6.4%. This not only represents a loss of the typical biodiversity of the area, but also has a dangerous collateral effect: it increases the risk of fire.

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