2023-08-08 02:57:00
The extreme heat wave is affecting the countries of the northern hemisphere, where thermometers break records and have different consequences for the environment. Scotland was not exempt from the problem, being that High temperatures had a negative impact on one of the most emblematic places in the country: Loch Ness. In this sense, the waters of the lake fell to their lowest level in decades, which set off the alarms of specialists and inhabitants.
While the country is recovering from the hottest June on record, figures released in May by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) raised red flags. In this regard, the agency confirmed that the waters of the most famous lake in the United Kingdom and the largest in Scotland in volume had a depth of only 109 centimeters. That way, is the lowest number measured since records began in the early 1990s.
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The situation is repeated in other regions of the Highlands, with effects for native fauna and energy production. “Everyone thinks that Scotland is a wet country, but Droughts are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change“, explained Nathan Critchlow, SEPA’s head of water and planning.
Gordon Mangus, who grew up in Scotland near Loch Ness, famous for housing a mythical creature, said that I have never seen the water level so low for so long. “We are used to rain, but not to such dry periods,” he told AFP the 84-year-old port captain.
On the banks of the River Ness, which flows from the loch to the sea at Inverness in the north of Scotland, Brian Shaw pointed out the visible stone bed of the riverbed. The director of the Ness District Salmon Fisheries Board indicated that the depth of the river has been steadily decreasing for years, but now it is more noticeable.
The decrease in water and the rise in temperature do not go unnoticed by the native fauna. In this sense, according to Shaw, the warmer and drier climate depleted the population of wild salmon, adding that one of the streams that feed the river dried up leaving dead fish. “There is real concern for the future of salmon,” she stressed.
Water, an increasingly scarce commodity
In summer, the demand for water also increases, with greater competition for it among farmers, fishermen, domestic users, and hydroelectric companies. SSE Renewables, which manages a hydroelectric project on Loch Ness, was accused by the fishermen of causing the drop in the water levelby storing it to generate electricity, something that was denied by the operator.
Although the rains of the last few weeks have given some respite to some parts of Scotland, water levels remain at “a critical point” in certain areas, according to SEPA. Added to this, the British Meteorological Office forecasts another dry period at the end of summer.
“Water is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in this part of the world”Shaw warned. In this regard, environmental experts warn that residents and businesses should prepare for periods of water scarcity and, at the same time, floods as the average temperature rises.
According to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), a UK government-appointed advisory body, Scotland’s ten warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997. The average temperature between 2010 and 2019 was 0.7ºC higher than the average between 1961 and 1990.
MB / ED
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