Date: 28-Jul-10
Country: SPAIN
Author: Blanca Rodriguez
 

People cool off in a public fountain in central Cordoba August 4, 2007, as temperatures soar to around 45 degrees Celsius.
Photo: Javier Barbancho

Spanish daytime temperatures will rise by an average of between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius by 2100, and rainfall will tumble to 15-30 percent of recent levels, according to forecasts on Tuesday by the Met Office.

The Met Office said it produced the forecasts in order to plan for the impact of climate change.

"Madrid will be like (southern city) Seville, and Seville like Tucson. This is a report for action," Met Office President Ricardo Garcia told journalists.

Climate Change Secretary Teresa Ribera added at a news conference that Spain, which already suffers from water shortages and is building desalination plants, was particularly vulnerable to climate change.

"To the extent that temperatures change, animals and other living things will have to grow in different places to today, and that will also lead to significant changes in economic activities," she said.

In order to combat climate change and reduce its extensive dependence on imported fossil fuels, Spain has invested heavily in subsidizing renewable energy sources in recent years.

Spain is now the world's fourth-largest producer of wind power and the second-largest of solar, and renewables provided 40 percent of the country's electricity in the first half of 2010.