Don't Know Why There's No Sun Up In The Sky

Following on from Friday and talk of storms and tornadoes, there is a piece in today’s “Ultima Hora” that quotes meteorology experts from the UIB university. The good news is that tornadoes of the type which have occurred on two occasions this month are not necessarily evidence of a changing climate in the Balearics. They also say, however, that, though such freaks of weather are difficult to predict, a rising sea temperature and an increase in water vapour in the atmosphere make it possible that there will be more. That’s where the less good news kicks in - the temperature in the Balearics has risen by 1.5 degrees in the past 30 years and, while there has been a colossal amount of rain these past weeks, there has actually been a decrease in the level of rain in parts of the islands, notably the north of Mallorca and Menorca. Above all this is the fact that, as the islands lie at latitude 40 degrees, they are apparently subject to the influence of sub-tropical anti-cyclones and are part of a region that is the most affected by climate change.

Yesterday I was at a barbecue given by neighbours near to the beach here in Playa de Muro. The partner of the owner told me that he wants to persuade her to sell. He is rather more pessimistic than I am about the rapidity of the effects of change, putting it at 15-20 years before we can start worrying that barbecues then would be taking place with us all sitting on lilos. I had thought more like 40 years. As for the experts - they say that the level of the Mediterranean has risen in the last 20 years but that the greatest variations are not forecast till towards the end of the century. I might say, we shall see, but of course we won’t, so maybe we should stop worrying about it. It’s just ... on 12 March I summarised arguments about the effects of increases in temperatures of one to two degrees. Maybe these were overstated, but if there has already been a 1.5 degree increase here in the past 30 years, it should be worrying us all what could happen if that were to be repeated in the next 30.

I wish you a nice and cold autumn and winter.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Today’s title - is a line from what very famous song?

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