Due to climate change, there may be shortages of wine and olives. Falling pressure over the North Atlantic could lead to drought in parts of Portugal and Spain.
- Perhaps, the absence of these products on the market may upset not only the Spaniards and portuguese, but also all wine and tapas lovers.
According to a new study, Portugal and Spain are the driest countries in Europe in a thousand years due to the extremely large high atmospheric pressure in the Azores, a region of high atmospheric pressure caused by climate change.
The extremely large high pressures of the Azores rotate clockwise in parts of the North Atlantic, with a large influence on weather and long-term climate trends in Western Europe. A new study shows that this "high-pressure zone" has changed dramatically over the past century, and these changes in the Climate of the North Atlantic have been unprecedented in the past millennium.
What this threatens or has consequences
Using climate models from the past 1,200 years, researchers from the Woods Hole Institute of Oceanography in the United States found that this high-pressure zone began to grow and cover a large area as greenhouse gas pollution began to increase around 200 years ago. In the twentieth century, the expansion of the region became more dramatic as the world warmed.
The authors then looked at evidence of precipitation levels in Portuguese stalagmites and found that winters in the western Mediterranean had become drier as high pressures in the Azores increased.
All of this suggests that precipitation levels could fall by another 10-20 per cent by the end of the century. This will make Iberian agriculture "one of the most vulnerable in Europe," the authors say.
They warn that as greenhouse gas levels rise, the heights of the Azores will continue to rise in the 21st century, increasing the risk of drought in the Iberian Peninsula and threatening key crops such as grapes and olives.
According to the study, the areas of the Iberian Peninsula suitable for growing grapes could be reduced by at least a quarter and could disappear almost completely by 2050 (due to severe water shortages).
The researchers also predict that olive production in southern Spain will decline by 30 percent by 2100.