During the heat waves of June and July 2019, the highest temperatures were recorded in Spain, but the countries that experienced the most critical conditions for the population were France, Belgium and the Netherlands, where there were more than 2,500 deaths attributable to the heat.
Because?
According to an ISGlobal study published this Thursday, these areas experienced greater thermal stress, a concept that, in addition to the thermometer, encompasses other parameters such as wind and humidity.
The researchers ask that the authorities begin to take this term into account when sending alerts in the heat waves that we will suffer this summer and in the coming ones.
“The heat stress indices developed by scientists are a way of describing how our bodies react to weather conditions, so they take into account the temperature, but also the relative humidity of the air, the strength of the wind gusts, or even exposure to the sun”, explains by telephone Ivana Cvijanovic, first author of the study, published in the scientific journal
Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
.
“For example, 35° with low humidity can be uncomfortable, but that same temperature with high humidity, like 80%, becomes dangerous,” she adds.
A man was selling fans this Wednesday in Seville.PACO PUENTES
For this reason, the document, in which researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have also participated, calls for incorporating this type of heat stress indices when launching alerts to the population in episodes of extreme heat.
“With climate change, we are experiencing increasingly intense heat waves, so we have to start reporting differently.
If there are high temperatures and very high humidity, there is a greater chance of suffering a heat stroke, so the authorities should warn people not to make great efforts in the hottest hours, to hydrate well, and to be aware of the most vulnerable people”, says the ISGlobal researcher, a center promoted by the La Caixa Foundation.
There are different heat stress indices developed by scientists;
they all take into account the temperature and relative humidity of the air, and incorporate different factors, such as gusts of wind —which cool the environment—, exposure to direct sunlight… “It is essential that these parameters be communicated to the population together with the temperatures”, says Cvijanovic.
The report also analyzes the episode of extreme heat that occurred in western Canada and the northwestern United States in June 2021. Although the maximum temperatures were registered in the States of Washington and Oregon (USA), the stress indices revealed that Canadian provinces such as Alberta, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia experienced very dangerous conditions (in the latest, there were 600 heat-related deaths).
“The Canadian authorities acted well and launched the alert, but the population did not know how to act.
Healthy people were unaware of the danger, many went out to enjoy a summer day and suffered from heat stroke.
With the vulnerable it was worse, they are always the most affected.
And they called the ambulances, but they did not get an answer, because they were collapsed ”,
Another phenomenon analyzed was the heat wave that hit India and Pakistan in May 2022, when temperatures exceeded 50 °C were recorded: the heat stress indices showed danger zones that were not limited to those of higher temperatures.
The researchers warn that this type of episodes, which put citizens on the brink of survival, will become more frequent due to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
More information
Josep Roca: "Making hard squares like the Puerta del Sol today is making a denialist urbanism"
symptoms of heat
“It is important to learn to live with heat waves, because we are going to suffer a lot, and also take heat stress into account.
For example, if you have to work in a kitchen and find that it is very hot and humid, you can easily prove that it is not safe to be there.
And if you are going to work on the street, you also have to take into account exposure to the sun, which is very dangerous in these conditions," says the expert.
“It is a work of education, of making people aware that this type of situation is dangerous.
And journalism must also play a role there, just as it did at the time to explain the prevention measures against covid.
Every year people in Spain die working abroad during heat waves ”, she continues.
In her opinion,
The silhouettes of several men at the entrance to the La Maestranza bullring, in Seville, on Monday. CRISTINA QUICLER (EL PAÍS)
Passengers in a carriage at the Seville fair, this Wednesday.
PACO BRIDGES
A mare died of dehydration, near the La Maestranza bullring in Seville, this Wednesday.PACO PUENTES
Two women were cooling off this Wednesday in a fountain in the Plaza de España in Seville.PACO PUENTES
Several people bathed on Monday at the Malvarrosa beach in Valencia.
Robert Solsona (Europa Press)
High temperatures are once again the protagonists this Thursday in the Community of Madrid.FERNANDO VILLAR (EFE)
A man was walking this Wednesday along the Malvarrosa beach, in Valencia, with an umbrella to protect himself from the sun.Rober Solsona (Europa Press)
The temperatures exceeded 30º this Wednesday in Granada.Fermín Rodríguez
Several people bathed this Wednesday on the Malvarrosa beach, in Valencia.Rober Solsona (Europa Press)
Precisely to raise awareness about heat stress, an ISGlobal team has created a heat index calculator, in which any citizen can enter temperature and relative humidity —both parameters can be consulted at the State Meteorological Agency— and obtain guidance on the level of health risk.
Plus, it shows tips on how to stay safe when conditions are dangerous.
"It is essential to start raising awareness about the importance of humidity and thermal stress, and that people also get used to these parameters," concludes Cvijanovic.
You can follow CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT on
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I'm already a subscriber