Spain drought forces Fuente de Piedra flamingos to find new home - BBC
Spain drought forces Fuente de Piedra flamingos to find new home - BBC News
Spain drought forces Fuente de Piedra flamingos to find new home
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Spain had received 28% less rain than expected by mid-May 2023, according to the weather service
A protracted drought in Spain's renowned southern wetlands has forced flamingos to hatch chicks elsewhere.
The Fuente de Piedra wetlands in the Malaga province were declared a natural reserve in 1984. But on Saturday, only a few dozen adult birds could be seen in the saltwater lagoon.
By mid-May, Spain had received 28% less rain than expected, officials said.
It has seen its hottest spring since 1961, with high temperatures likely to continue throughout the summer.
Previously more than 200,000 flamingo chicks have hatched at the lagoon, according to Andalusia's Agriculture office.
Local resident Alberto Gonzalez Sanchez said this was due to climate change.
"It is a shame because of the tourism, people come here for the day," Mr Sanchez said.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.