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Samira Khodayar Pardo opens eForum eMallorca Experience 2026 “Paso firme hacia el futuro” (“A firm step towards the future”)
- June 10, 2026
- Meteorology and Climatology
Coordinator of the Meteorology and Climatology Area, opened the first day with a lecture on the role of water as a connecting thread in the Mediterranean climate transformation.
Samira Khodayar Pardo, Coordinator of the Meteorology and Climatology Area, took part in eForum eMallorca Experience 2026, held on 10 and 11 June at Es Baluard Museu in Palma, under the title “Paso firme hacia el futuro”.
The event brought together institutional representatives, experts, professionals and organisations linked to sustainability, the environment, tourism, the circular economy, water management and the territorial future of the Mediterranean.
Khodayar opened the first day of the forum, dedicated to “Water in the face of the climate challenge: solutions and future”, with the lecture “Mediterranean in transformation: from water deficit to the intensification of extremes”.
During her presentation, she analysed how climate change is modifying the functioning of the Mediterranean climate system and, in a particularly visible way, the water cycle. The lecture stressed that water deficit cannot be understood solely as a reduction in precipitation, but rather as the result of a combination of factors: a warmer atmosphere, higher evaporative demand, faster loss of moisture from soils and ecosystems, a warmer Mediterranean Sea and increasing precipitation irregularity.
One of the central messages of the presentation was that water is one of the main connecting threads of the Mediterranean climate transformation. When the water cycle changes, so do resource availability, pressure on ecosystems, exposure to extreme events and the vulnerability of key sectors such as agriculture, tourism, health, cities, coasts and the economy.
The lecture also addressed the growing importance of compound events, understood as situations in which several climatic and social factors coincide and amplify risk. Heat and drought, drought and wildfires, a warm sea and intense precipitation, tourism pressure and water scarcity, or urban heat and social vulnerability are examples of combinations that increasingly characterise Mediterranean climate risk.
In the case of island territories such as Mallorca and the Balearic Islands, this new climate equation is especially relevant due to the interaction between limited water resources, stressed aquifers, seasonal tourism pressure, vulnerable ecosystems and a warmer climate that increases evaporation and aggravates functional drought.
Following the opening lecture, Khodayar also participated in the round table “Water in the face of the climate challenge: solutions and future”, which discussed the need to strengthen collaboration between science, public administrations, the private sector and society to move towards more anticipatory, integrated and resilient water management in the Mediterranean.
Interview with Samira Khodayar: https://emallorcaexperience.ultimahora.es/eforum/2026/06/07/15231/samira-khodayar-tecnologia-puede-ser-excusa-para-ignorar-limites-fisicos-del-planeta.html
