Madrid expert describes hot weather health risks at Elche (Alicante) conference

AN expert from the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCHIII) in Madrid maintained that the climate change crisis was also a health crisis.

Speaking during the recent Ciudades verdes, ciudades de future (Green cities, cities of the future) conference held in Elche, one of the Institute’s experts, Julio Diaz, warned that they were armed with “alarming statistics.”

He pointed out that last summer’s temperatures were those expected for 2032: “The climate emergency is advancing with huge giant steps,” he said.

Heatwaves were seriously affecting people’s health, Diez added, describing the 42 days of extremely high temperatures as “brutal.”

The 4,500 deaths attributed to last summer’s heatwave were almost four times higher than the average 1,300, he said, adding at the same time that last winter, 1,100 people died during cold weather.

“Extreme temperatures cost lives,” Diez declared.

He also dismissed as a myth the assumption that the increase in deaths during a heatwave was the result of heatstroke.

“It’s not true, only a fraction of people die from causes that can be attributed to heatstroke,” he argued.  Instead, he explained, the high temperatures accentuated existing medical conditions.

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