Canary Islands struck by ‘dangerous’ weather event for 146 days, shock new study reveals | World | News
British tourists and expats in the Canary Islands were warned of a “dangerous” weather event plaguing their holiday destination for almost five months of the year, a shocking new investigation has revealed. The popular Spanish archipelago is now swamped by the infamous Calima (dense clouds of Saharan dust) for at least 146 days each year.
Alarming findings published by the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and Spain’s IDAEA-CSIC warn that these dangerous African dust storms are becoming significantly more frequent in Southern Europe. While strict EU regulations have successfully reduced local pollution from traffic and industry, desert dust in the air has increased by a staggering 10% to 25% in the last decade.
According to data, the Canary Islands are bearing the brunt of the crisis; calima now damages the islands on 40% of all days each year.
The mainland could not escape this event either; Saharan dust affects the south of mainland Spain for 35% of the year, and the northeast for 25% to 30% of the year.
Researchers blamed climate change for this dramatic change. Global warming and greenhouse gas emissions are expanding Africa’s desert regions and altering atmospheric circulation, acting as a giant vacuum that draws hot, dust-laden air masses directly into Europe.
Air quality experts have revealed that unprecedented “super calima” events have occurred in the region between 2020 and 2022, making them the worst since records began.
Conventional dust storms typically produce PM10 particle concentrations of 200 to 400 micrograms per cubic meter. But in recent extreme events concentrations have jumped to between 600 and 1,840 micrograms per cubic metre, with the most toxic measurement recorded on Gran Canaria.
Medical experts are now sounding the alarm about the serious health risks posed to both locals and holidaymakers. High concentrations of Saharan dust are directly linked to an increase in hospital admissions and an increase in deaths from heart attacks and respiratory diseases.
Worryingly, research conducted at the Universitario de Canarias Hospital found that patients with heart failure had significantly worse medical outcomes if they were exposed to dust before admission to hospital.
Health chiefs strongly advise anyone with asthma, COPD or heart conditions to carefully check weather forecasts published by Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET before heading out. Exposure to toxic dust can cause severe coughing, breathing difficulties, chest discomfort, and make victims highly susceptible to respiratory infections.
