The study of climate change is essential to know the negative effects and be able to anticipate, creating management and administration policies of the territory and natural resources.
En Teide National Park there are meteorological stations that are in charge of monitoring the effects that are related to climate change. Starting in November, the number of stations will rise to seven.
Study climate change
It is necessary to expand the monitoring network of the phenomena and effects that have to do with climate change if we want to be able to develop adaptation plans and programs to the new scenarios that await us in the future.
In this case, the expansion of the monitoring network through the meteorological stations of the Teide National Park belongs to a global program carried out the Autonomous Organization of National Parks (OAPN) in which the Picos de Europa, Sierra Nevada, Cabrera, Ordesa and Monte Perdido, Cabañeros, the Atlantic Islands and Taburiente also participate. This effort is vital to understanding how the climate change affects diverse environments. In addition, climate change also impacts the adaptation of several species, especially as detailed in the adaptation of plants to climate change.
The objective of this increased follow-up is to be able to assess the impact of climate variability to anticipate and create models that assist with climate prediction. These stations measure temperatures, precipitation, wind, and incident solar radiation every ten minutes throughout the year. All this data is used to generate models that, based on the behavior of meteorological variables throughout the records obtained, allow us to estimate the path these variables will take with the increase in the greenhouse effect and climate fluctuations.
Increase in seasons
The five current stations are located at the base of the Las Cañadas caldera and the new ones will be located at altitudes of 2.700 and 3.200 meters to obtain precise information on the implications of the altitude gradient of the Teide peak. This is essential, since the climate change is altering ecological patterns at different altitudes, which is evident in the study of the vegetables in extreme conditions.
The number of stations will increase to seven, as it is essential to place them in this location because the effects of climate change are most acutely felt in these places.
The temperature at these altitudes has been increasing at a rate of more than one tenth and a half of a degree per decade for more than seventy years, an advance higher than the average for Tenerife, which stands at one tenth of a degree per decade, and the global average.
