climate change

A study has analysed the association between ambient temperature and hospital mortality from respiratory diseases in the provinces of Madrid and Barcelona between 2006 and 2019. Their results indicate that high summer temperatures were responsible for 16% and 22.1% of all fatal hospitalisations for respiratory diseases in Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. According to the team, led by ISGlobal, "unless effective adaptation measures are taken in hospitals, global warming could exacerbate mortality in patients admitted for respiratory diseases during the summer period". The research is published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health - Europe.

The amount of carbon available to emit without surpassing the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement, commonly referred to as the carbon budget, could be depleted within the next six years, as suggested by a study published in Nature Climate Change. The findings are based on a reevaluation of existing estimates and indicate that carbon budgets might be lower than previously believed.

Research has compiled data on brewing hop yields and alpha content - which gives beer its bitter aroma and affects quality - between 1971 and 2018 in hop-growing areas of Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, show that, compared to 1994, hop production has decreased by 0.2 tonnes per hectare per year and alpha bitterness content has fallen by 0.6%. Combining the data with climate models, the authors estimate that by 2050 hop yields and alpha content will fall by 4 - 18% and 20 - 31% respectively. According to the models, the cause will be higher temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts due to climate change.

The State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has issued an information note warning of "exceptionally high" temperatures for this time of year in Spain, especially between Friday 29 September and Monday 2 October.

On the eve of an episode of unusually high temperatures for this time of year, it is time to take stock of the summer we have experienced, characterised by a succession of extreme weather phenomena in the form of heat waves, drought and torrential rains. The seriousness and complexity of these problems and their repercussions in many areas, especially on health, make it urgent to set up the Health and Climate Change Observatory approved last July, with a stable and independent structure.

Las lluvias torrenciales caídas en Libia hace dos semanas fueron 50 veces más probables por el calentamiento global provocado por la acción humana. Algo similar ocurría con las lluvias caídas en Grecia, Bulgaria y Turquía, que fueron 10 veces más probables por el cambio climático, según concluye un estudio de atribución rápido de la Word Weather Attribution (WWA). La investigación apunta a que la tragedia en Libia se agravó por otros factores humanos, como construcciones en llanuras inundables y presas en mal estado. Los autores también analizaron las inundaciones registradas en España a principios de septiembre y concluyeron que precipitaciones tan intensas se esperan una vez cada 40 años. 

The projection of a 2 °C rise in temperatures due to climate change would put 53 % of ski resorts in Europe, including Spanish resorts, at serious risk due to lack of snow. The percentage would rise to 98 % if the increase were 4 °C, according to the conclusions of a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The use of artificial snow on 50 % of a resort's surface would reduce the percentage of resorts at risk by approximately 25 %, although it would increase energy expenditure and carbon emissions.

Counting deaths attributable to the effects of high temperatures is basic as a public health surveillance tool, but it should not become the only research objective. It is necessary to know why the population in some places adapts better than others to heat waves, what variables influence them, and to modify them when possible.

With the prolonged meteorological drought we find ourselves in, we are focusing too much on climate as its cause, while there is a lack of debate about the real problem: chronic water demand. It is necessary to rethink consumption models with all the actors of society and the competent administrations. A future adapted to climate change must address drought by prioritizing the restoration of our water systems and questioning the current development model.

Rising temperatures, droughts, heat waves and abundant untreated material in forests are the perfect cocktail for fires to break out. When they are beyond the control of firefighting services - because of their intensity, speed and unpredictability - we speak of mega-fires or sixth generation wildfires, a phenomenon that is not new but whose frequency could increase due to rural abandonment and climate change. Some experts have thus described the fire in Tenerife that began on August 15 and has forced the evacuation or confinement of thousands of people.