Not all countries of the world act equally the different effects of climate change. Spain is one of the countries where heat waves act more intensely and more frequently. While in other countries heat wave events usually last between 3 and 4 days on average, in Spain they last between 4 and 5.
A study has been carried out in which the Institute for Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and which has been published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, which has analyzed the heat waves that occurred between 1972 and 2012 in the 18 countries where these extreme weather events are most common. What results have they obtained?
The study carried out has examined the temperature figures measured by the State Meteorological Agency of all the provincial capitals. As with droughts, there is no global definition of what a heat wave is. However, the study has been based on the twelve concepts most agreed by the scientific community.
According to the data obtained after all the registrations, the highest rate of heat waves is taken by Spain that, after China, lead the list of countries where more heat waves have occurred since there are records. It is not only that, but the increase in the frequency and intensity of these extreme events has increased significantly since 2003.
This increase in heat waves was predicted by scientists as the consequences of climate change. As global warming increases, the effects of climate change are accentuated. In Spain there have been an average of 32 heat waves per year.
The area of Spain where these phenomena are most concentrated is in the southern half of the Peninsula. The risk and death rate from heat waves has also increased.
Spain, as we have mentioned on many occasions, is a country very vulnerable to climate change and after studies and records carried out by scientists they only affirm it.