The government will amend the maximum temperature plan so that it can be activated at any time of the year Climate and environment

The government intends to amend the extreme temperature plan so that it can be activated at any time in the event of a heat or cold wave that poses a risk to the health of the population. The worsening climate crisis, which means that temperature records are constantly being broken, is behind this decision, which sources from the Ministry of Health told El Pais newspaper will be one of the tasks that the Health Observatory will have to accomplish. Climate change, which this administration intends to advance during this Legislature.

“Nothing is better…

The government intends to amend the extreme temperature plan so that it can be activated at any time in the event of a heat or cold wave that poses a risk to the health of the population. The worsening climate crisis, which means that temperature records are constantly being broken, is behind this decision, which sources from the Ministry of Health told El Pais newspaper will be one of the tasks that the Health Observatory will have to accomplish. Climate change, which this administration intends to advance during this Legislature.

“There is no better example of the need for this observatory than the temperatures we are seeing now in January,” Minister Monica Garcia added on Friday in her appearance before the House of Representatives to explain the lines of action outlined by her department. This legislative body. “The weather is not good, it is bad news,” he stressed after confirming that they will work side by side with the environmental transformation so that this observatory has a “prominent role.”

Health sources explained that among the work undertaken for this entity was the establishment of a working group for extreme temperatures. It is expected that it will be established at the next meeting of the observatory, which will be held in mid-February, in which representatives of various institutions and ministries will participate. Among other issues, the meeting will address the development of a new extreme temperature plan that, unlike what is happening now, can be activated at any time in the event of a heat attack (or cold snap) that may pose a health risk. . . The minister stressed that “climate change is not only an environmental crisis, but also a public health crisis.”

Every summer for two decades, the Ministry of Health has activated the National Plan for Preventive Measures against the Effects of Excessive Temperatures on Health, which seeks to inform the general population about the impact of heat, health professionals and various social services. Until now it has been activated in June, but last year it had to be brought forward to May 16. In addition, the door for future submission has been opened until May 1 and its closing has been postponed until October 15. But with a planet moving from record temperature to record temperature, even this margin may not be enough. Last year, for example, there was actually a period of very high temperatures in April. January temperature records are being broken again in Spain.

“The activation of the plan should not depend on the calendar, as is the case now, but rather on the thermometer,” says Julio Diaz, a researcher at the Carlos III Health Institute who specializes in the effects of the climate crisis and pollution on health. The new ministry team has already contacted Díaz and Cristina Linares, a colleague at the same institution, to launch this collection of extreme temperatures at the observatory, of which they are part.

Last year, for the first time, a plan similar to the Low Temperature Heat Plan was also launched, which is also wreaking havoc among the most vulnerable populations. The idea, explained by the Ministry of Health, is that there is one maximum temperature plan for both heat and cold that can be activated at any time of the year. “There is a need for a year-round monitoring system,” Linares highlights.

The first time a plan of this kind was used in Spain was in 2004. This was done after the deadly summer of 2003, when extremely high temperatures claimed thousands of lives in Europe. “Since the existence of these plans, the rate of heat-related deaths has decreased,” explains Díaz about the usefulness of this tool that tries to keep the population informed through different channels in cooperation with the autonomous communities.

Health alerts

These plans also adjust heat alerts due to health risks. At this time, there are thresholds by province that indicate the maximum daily temperature at which deaths increase in a statistically significant way. The temperature thresholds were updated last year and were prepared taking into account two basic parameters: the time series of daily deaths and that of maximum daily temperatures also by province for the months of July, August and September.

Meanwhile, the state meteorological agency (Aemet) has its own heat warning system, which is based only on average temperatures and does not take health conditions into account. The problem is that in only a third of cases, the activation thresholds for both systems match, Diaz explains. For this reason, another task of the observatory will be specifically to consolidate information on health and meteorological warnings. Health sources confirm that in the coming months this standardization may be ready, which seeks to better communicate to citizens the health risks involved in extreme heat attacks.

“We are working to better inform and prevent the population, and improve our ability to track and respond to climate-related diseases, such as heat waves,” the secretary said on Friday in Congress. He noted that health systems “must be strengthened” to be more resilient in the face of extreme climate events. In addition to working on alerts for abnormal temperatures, the observatory will also address reform of the daily mortality monitoring system, known as MoMo, which helps identify excess deaths.

This tool was born in 2004 also with the first prevention plan against high temperatures, although MoMo was later used to monitor other crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic. However, Health believes that this system should be reviewed and updated taking into account that heat-related deaths may currently be underestimated.

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