In 2050, Toulouse will break heat records
According to Climadiag Commune, Toulouse will beat heat records in 2050. This Météo France tool offers a summary of expected climate changes for each commune in France. In the Pink City, the number of hot days and hot nights will increase significantly.
Toulouse won “a sad heat record this summer”, as Isabelle Hardy, member of the municipal opposition group, points out Toulouse Ecologist, Solidarity & Citizen (TESC). Indeed, it is the city in which temperatures have risen the most in France this year.
The thermometer has gained globally + 2.1 degrees in 2022 compared to measurements recorded since the 1990s, according to a report from Météo France. It is also in the Pink City that the rainfall deficit was the greatest (-57%) on the national territory. But in 2050, it will be much worse.
The temperature could rise by up to 2°C in Toulouse
The municipal opposition group TESC was indeed able to realize this thanks to Municipality of Clidiag. This online tool from Météo France provides access to a summary of expected climate changes for each municipality. The results for the Pink City are worrying to say the least.
First, the annual average temperature could warm up to 2°C by the middle of the 21st century. For example, it would go from 21.3°C to 23.2°C in summer. Cumulative precipitation could also continue to decline during this season. They would be 142 mm instead of 146 today.
The number of days in heat wave on the rise
But the most impressive figures relate in particular to the number of days when the temperature exceeded 35°C during the day. The city of Toulouse would go from two hot days to seven by 2050. Rather rare at present, they will therefore be encountered several times a year.
The number of days in a heat wave, that is to say when the maximum daily temperature exceeds normal by more than five degrees for five days, will also continue to increase. According to Climadiag Commune, it would be eight by the middle of the 21st century, compared to one currently in Toulouse.
Health problems exacerbated by the heat
Similarly, the number of nights during which the contained temperature does not drop below 20°C would increase from 13 to 34 by 2050. increased number of hot nights will exacerbate health issues “, specifies Commune Clidiag.
This is the case of the Pink City. It is indeed “potentially sensitive to the urban heat island phenomenon “, indicates the tool of Météo France. For Isabelle Hardy, these figures are “frightening”. She also deplores that the mayor of Toulouse “does not take the measure” of this emergency.