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José A. González
Malaga
Thursday, 15 August 2024, 17:45
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"It's always been hot in the summer". This is one of the most repeated phrases in July and August in Spain. It is true, but only half true. "The hottest days of the summer now seem normal," said Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef. "The number of extreme heat days (those above 35C) are on the rise," she added. It is a global problem and in Spain it is multiplied by four.
The number of days above 35C on the Iberian peninsula have risen from four to 16, according to Unicef data compiled from Copernicus statistics. "These high temperatures disrupt children's health, well-being and daily routines," said Russell. Along with the over-70s, children under five are the other age group most at risk to high temperatures. Their bodies are much more vulnerable to extreme heat, as they heat up faster and cool down more slowly. "It's especially dangerous for babies because of their faster heart rate, so rising temperatures are even more alarming for children," says Unicef's executive director.
Through a comparison between the average of the 1960s and the years 2020-2024, Unicef warned that these risks to the health of the very young are accelerating and the scale of severity is increasing. "Extreme heat is worrisome, but it is more so when experienced over longer periods".
In 100 countries more than half of all children suffer twice as many heatwaves today as they did 60 years ago. Spain has gone from five heatwaves in the 1960s to nearly 14 in the 2020-24 period, almost three times as many. Eighty-five per cent of the country's children - 6.4 million - live in areas where the number of heatwaves has doubled, and 44 per cent - some 3.3 million - in places where they have tripled. In addition, the duration of heatwaves has increased from an average of 4.4 to 5.5 days.
From north to south and east to west, temperatures have risen above 35C at some point in recent years. Monthly reports from the US space agency Nasa, the World Meteorological Organisation and Copernicus are always accompanied by the adjective "historic" or with the now-daily phrase "since records began".
Earlier this year, the academic group of climatologists, World Weather Attribution, claimed in a study that deadly heatwaves in the first few months of the year affecting millions of vulnerable people could only be explained by global warming. "They are more long-lasting and extreme," its researchers said.
In particular, according to Unicef, the frequency of heatwaves in Europe and Central Asia has doubled and they are lasting longer. These extraordinary episodes have increased from 4.4 days in the 1960s to 5.3. "Some 55 million children are suffering from this," commented Unicef.
However, children in West and Central Africa are the most exposed to extremely hot days and experience the most significant increases over time, according to the study. Some 123 million children (39% of the region's total population) now experience an average of more than a third of the year, at least 95 days, with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. This means up to 212 days in Mali, 202 days in Niger, 198 days in Senegal and 195 days in Sudan. In Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 48 million children live in areas that experience twice as many days of extreme heat.
"Governments must act to control rising temperatures, and there is a unique opportunity to do so right now," declared Russell. "It must be done with ambition and with the knowledge that today's children and future generations will have to live in the world they leave behind".
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