Morocco Shatters April Heat Records as Climate Change Intensifies Drought

In Morocco, several (local) records for April have been broken across the country and temperatures have exceeded 41°C in some cities like Sidi-Slimane, Marrakech or Taroudant. These record temperatures have been added to a historic drought of several years in these regions, which has exacerbated the effects of heat on agriculture, already threatened by a growing water shortage resulting from the combined effect of climate change and water use, notes World Weather Attribution. Spain and Portugal have not been spared either.

Each year, heat waves have contributed to the deaths of an average of 262, 250 and 116 people in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, respectively. They had suffered from heat-related illnesses. According to a review of all-cause mortality between 2005 and 2007 in Tunisia, daily mortality increased by 2% for each degree Celsius above 31.5°C.

The three-day heat wave that occurred from April 26 to 28, 2023 in the most affected region was the subject of a study conducted by scientists from Morocco, France, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Kingdom. They assessed the extent to which human-induced climate change has altered the probability and intensity of this early-season heat wave. It emerges that heat waves are among the deadliest natural hazards, with thousands of people dying each year from heat-related causes.