Respected professor and researcher, Filipe Duarte Santos, in November forecast that, because of the advancing of the deserts in northern Africa, Portugal’s climate is becoming more and more like that of Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia.
The expert stressed how the changing climate could have a bearing on the country’s water sector, stressing: “Climate change can be seen in the broadening of the tropical climate zone; the desert is being pushed north. It is essential in the water sector to take this climate change into account.”
Expanding on his comments, he added that as Portugal is “an aging country, it is not easy for people to accept that this country is altering and that the climate changes”.
The leading researcher, who spearheaded one of Portugal’s foremost climate change projects – the Scenarios, Impacts and Adaptation Measures (SIAM) project – further warned that the country’s irrigation systems in the medium and long-term may not be feasible.
As the country was still drought-stricken at the end of November, the met office prayed for a miracle.