The vice-president of the Portuguese Environmental Protection Agency (APA) told Lusa today that due to climate change, Portugal must prepare for more and more severe extreme events, such as the one that caused flooding in Lisbon on Thursday.
In the Greater Lisbon region, 197 incidents due to bad weather were reported on Thursday, including falling trees, flooding and falling structures, while the Tagus Basin also recorded a strong wind event.
The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere is analyzing the phenomenon as it could technically constitute a tornado.
“Floods have always been there, but in recent years they have become more frequent and severe,” said José Carlos Pimenta Machado on the sidelines of the Macau International Environmental Cooperation Forum and Exhibition 2024.
The APA vice-president recalled that from the end of October to the beginning of November, “more rain fell in the region in 15 days.” [rio] Lima has more rain than the Algarve in two years.”
“The risk has increased, so we have to live with this risk and expand protection projects,” emphasized Pimenta Machado. “Prevention and careful spatial planning are our top priorities,” he added.
“We must prepare cities, territories and infrastructure for this new reality to cope with rainfall peaks, long periods of drought and heat waves,” the leader said.
Pimenta Machado said Lisbon was “forging its own path and doing it well,” citing as an example the implementation of an overall drainage plan that would “drain the most vulnerable areas.”
The €130 million plan calls for the construction of two tunnels to drain excess rainwater into the Tagus River: one five kilometers long between Campolide and Santa Apolonia, and another one kilometer long from Chelas to Beato.
The leader also stressed the importance of “creating more green areas to increase infiltration and increase water storage capacity” and cited the example of the Plaza de España, which “has already been tested this year and has worked very well.”
Pimenta Machado also mentioned the plan to build the Giraboros dam in Seia to “minimize flooding” in the Baixo Mondego region.
On the contrary, the APA vice-president stressed, the Algarve continues to experience its “worst drought in history”, despite recent rains.
Pimenta Machado also mentioned that Portugal has already lost an area of 12.2 square kilometers to the sea – “equivalent to 1,700 football fields” – and that 20% of the coast, 180 kilometers, is at risk of coastal erosion.
“This war between land and sea has always existed, but it is now intensifying due to climate change,” the leader warned.
Pimenta Machado defended the need to “not increase construction on the coast” and focus on “putting sand on the beaches” instead of, as in the past, “a lot of hard work, groins and breakwaters.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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