A new application, available on any electronic device, will allow you to monitor the deaths that occur in Spain and that can be attributed to high temperatures, and has estimated 2,155 deaths due to this cause during last summer, reported today the Higher Council for Scientific Research. (CSIC).
A scientific team from the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies (IDAEA/CSIC), the University of Valencia and the Foundation for Climate Research (FIC) has developed a web application that uses official data from the Climate Monitoring system. Daily Mortality (MOMO) and temperatures recorded by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) to calculate mortality attributable to moderate heat, extreme heat and excessive heat from the months of June to August in Spain.
The application, called Mortality Attributable to Heat in Spain (MACE), is available through the browser of any computer or electronic device, the Higher Council for Scientific Research has reported.
MACE is updated daily and offers mortality data regarding temperature for the last five years, with 2022 being the most significant year with a record of 3,012 deaths due to heat during the 28 days that there was extreme heat in summer, the CSIC has highlighted. .
“If we talk about the impact of heat on health, the summer of 2023 has been the third with the highest mortality attributable to excessive heat, with 2,155 deaths, after the heat wave of 2003 and the summer of 2022,” explained Aurelio Tobías. , IDAEA researcher and author of the study.
To calculate these data, the research team has data on the number of daily deaths from MOMO and daily temperatures from Aemet.
Mortality attributable to moderate heat is calculated as deaths associated with temperatures that are between those at which daily mortality is minimal and the extreme heat threshold.
“The extreme heat threshold is established by the 95th percentile, which indicates that only 5% of the days have the same or higher temperatures between June and September of the last 10 years,” clarified the FIC researcher and author of the work. Dominic Royé.
In this way, the mortality attributable to extreme heat is calculated from the deaths associated with daily temperatures that are above said threshold.
Finally, mortality attributable to excessive heat is considered as a part of the extreme heat associated with the days of maximum heat intensity, the CSIC has reported, and has stressed that this tool represents a transfer of knowledge from research, applied to the potential impact of heat on human health.
“The Aemet and the Ministry of Health give notice of the arrival of a heat wave, but do not report the potential impact on health or even the impact of isolated days of extreme heat,” Tobías stated.
The researcher has assured that if citizens were also aware of the impact of extreme heat on health, this application could favor behavioral change based on the recommendations made by the Ministry of Health in its National Plan of Preventive Actions for Discharges. temperatures.
These recommendations include drinking water and liquids frequently, staying in cool places, reducing physical activity outside during the middle hours of the day, wearing light clothing that allows you to breathe, or eating light meals that allow you to recover mineral salts.
Currently, MACE calculates mortality only during the summer and at the national level, without considering geographic differences or vulnerable population groups by age or gender.
The authors are already working to incorporate these variables, as well as to expand data collection from May to October for the next version of the application, estimated for 2024.
