スペインは長く旱魃で苦しんでいる

　どうも2年半ほども碌々雨は降っておらず、とある貯水池は8%レベルまで落ち、他の場所へ移すため魚を取ってしまっているのだとか。

BBC Climate change: Catalonia in grip of worst drought in decades 4 Apr 2023

「In the Sau reservoir, teams in small boats are hard at work hauling out fish with nets. The idea is to remove them before they die and rot in the water, making it unusable for human consumption.」

　このSau湖には11世紀の教会が沈んでいて―沈んでいた。いまやその全貌は明らかになっている。数十年も沈んでいて、なお立派に立っているのは大したもんだが、とはいえその姿はもはや呪いの如くではある。

「That is because of the now-notorious sight of the 11th Century church of Sant Romà de Sau, which was submerged when the reservoir was created in 1962.

In times of abundant rain, the building - situated in the reservoir - sat below the water level, but it now stands several metres above the waterline, surrounded by parched earth.」

「This part of Catalonia has not seen sustained rain in two-and-a-half years. In early March, the reservoir's water level had dropped to 8% of its capacity, down from 55% a year earlier.」

　そりゃまあ渇水のすべてが全て環境変動のせいではない、が、気温が上がれば地表から失われる水分もまた相応に増える。

「Not all droughts are caused by climate change, but increased heat in the atmosphere takes more moisture out of the earth, making dry spells worse.」

「"The Mediterranean area is one of the most vulnerable areas when it comes to climate change," he said, identifying countries such as France, Italy, Greece and those in the Balkans as being at high risk. "The Mediterranean Sea is a closed sea, creating its own atmospheric environment."」

　しかも地中海である。ほとんど閉じた海であり、つまり熱を逃がすのにも難があるわけだ。