Rabat – Morocco experienced record heat this winter, including the hottest January since measurements began, the country’s meteorological department told AFP, placing the blame on climate change.<\/p>\n
The North African kingdom, where temperatures recently approached 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit), is facing a sixth consecutive year of drought.<\/p>\n
The lack of water threatens the viability of agriculture — a key economic sector which employs around a third of the working-age population and accounts for 14 percent of exports.<\/p>\n
In January, the average temperature hit a record, “exceeding 3.8C (38.8F) above normal for the period 1991-2020,” said Houcine Youaabed, the head of communications for the meteorological department.<\/p>\n
It is the “hottest month of January since the first measurements in 1940,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n
The previous record was set in January 2016, when the average temperature was 2.9C (37.2F) above normal.<\/p>\n
In February, several regions experienced temperatures 10C above the usual average for that month, the department said.<\/p>\n
Multiple records tumbled, including in the coastal town of Safi, in Morocco’s west, which hit 35.6C (96F).<\/p>\n
“These recent events in Morocco are part of a global trend,” and “reflect the consequences of global warming, including an intensification of meteorological phenomenons,” said Youaabed.<\/p>\n
Data compiled by AFP using the European Union’s Copernicus Programme for Earth observation, show more than a fifth of Europe and the Mediterranean region is classed as being in drought conditions, with 17.3 per cent suffering a humidity deficit, which would place it in the “warning category”.<\/p>\n
Rain is expected to return to Morocco in the coming days, but only major downpours would be enough to make a dent in the water deficit after the years of drought.<\/p>\n
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