Drought in Morocco: Satellite images and maps provide the proof
Satellite images and maps comparing soil conditions in January 2023 with those in January 2024 are quite critical, particularly for Morocco. In several cities, including Casablanca, El Jadida, and Safi, the soil has changed color from green to brown. And this is proof of the extreme drought. So says the European Commission in its report «Drought in the Mediterranean Region, January 2024, GDO Analytical Report». This is a technical document from the Joint Research Centre, the European Drought Observatory, and the Copernicus emergency management service. After an extremely hot year in 2023, dry conditions are once again affecting most of the Mediterranean region, and are already associated with serious impacts. In terms of water resource availability, the outlook is uncertain and varies from one sub-region to another. Seasonal forecasts point to a warmer-than-average spring in 2024, compared with long-term records.
* A regional alert: The combined drought indicator for mid-January 2024 shows generally severe and potentially critical conditions in the Mediterranean region. Southern and eastern Spain, southern France, most of Italy, Malta, Eastern Poland, central Romania, southern Greece, Cyprus, and central Turkey are on alert. Parts of the Mediterranean region – Southern Italy, Southern Spain, and Malta – are on alert, with vegetation already affected by drought. This phenomenon is much more serious and prolonged in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, where the situation appears to be serious. The persistent lack of rainfall in recent months and warmer-than-average temperatures have led to severe negative soil moisture anomalies and poor vegetation conditions in these areas.
* Peaks by month: The evolution of the combined drought indicator shows that alert drought conditions were identified in North Africa, southern France, Italy, the Alps, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe in September 2023. In October of the same year, they worsened to scattered alert conditions in parts of North Africa, Italy and the Alps, and widespread alert conditions in the Balkans, while France entered a recovery phase. In November 2023, the recovery phase also developed in the Balkans, but drought further developed and worsened in North Africa, southern and eastern Iberia, central and southern Italy, Greece, and the Mediterranean islands, with widespread and severe warning conditions by December 2023.
* Restrictions on water use: The danger of forest fires varies from moderate to high in some coastal regions of Spain, but varies from very high to extreme in North Africa. Impacts on water resources have been reported in coastal regions of the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa. Restrictions on water use have been announced or are already being implemented in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. At the end of January 2024, the snow water equivalent (i.e. the amount of water contained in the snowpack) in Italy was well below the historical average, and even lower than in the winter of 2022-2023. This will result in a significantly reduced contribution from snowmelt to river flow in the peri-alpine region in the spring and early summer of 2024.
Fatim-Zahra TOHRY
