One of the consequences of climate change and more frequent and intense heat waves will affect the main economic sector of the south and southeast peninsular, tourism. The scientist Cristina Linares from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III assures that the south of Spain “is turning into a desert” and that this “will have very important consequences” for tourism since tourists are already moving more to the north of the peninsula in summer. “It will be impossible to be in the south and inland, you’ll get scorched,” she says. In areas such as Andalusia, the climate will be similar to that of North Africa, and the Costa Blanca, for the moment, is saved “due to more flexible temperatures. “People will tend to go to the north to to be able to rest better, since it will be impossible to sleep in the south or inland.”
Climate change and anxiety
But not only are experts warning of a tourism problem due to climate change, there is going to be a increase in anxiety, nervousness and irascibility. These are the consequences of heat waves as intense as those we have suffered in Spain this summer, according to scientists at the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), the public research body that promotes, finances and manages biomedical and health research in the country. There is a link between the increase in mental health problems and the climate crisis
This is what the scientist Cristina Linares, who participated in a conference in Elche dedicated to the cities of the future and to reflect on the climate change emergency in the cities, warns Información, of the Prensa Ibérica group. “Imagine that at night you can’t sleep because there is a very high minimum temperature, because all that fatigue accumulates day after day and creates changes in people’s psychological state“, explains the scientist. People, thus, become more irascible and have problems with anxiety because fatigue is accumulates and can even lead to a psychotic episode, warns Linares
Concern over climate change
Climate change is something very worrying. And the fact is that, according to scientists from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the extreme temperatures that we have experienced this summer were those predicted for 2032, meaning that the climate change emergency has already been brought forward by a decade. Heat waves are seriously affecting health and the greatest example is this summer, where there were extreme temperatures and 42 days of heat waves. In fact, it multiplied the number of deaths attributable to temperatures almost four times, from 1,300 that were being recorded on average, to 4,500. “Thermal extremes cost lives” warns another ISCIII scientist, Julio Díaz, who also spoke at the conference in Elche
In Japan and the USA there are studies that link heat waves to a increased number of suicides, they warn. “If a person who is already imbalanced because they have a mental illness or take medication that alters the mechanisms of sweating that makes them not thirsty and almost have to be reminded to drink to avoid dehydration, all this alters their internal mechanisms and can lead to a psychotic break, it needs to be taken very seriously,” says Cristina Linares
Alcoholism
Even, Linares explains, they are noticing in the hospitals an increase in the number of people suffering from alcoholism. “When temperatures rise, people also consume more alcohol, with a risk of abuse,” warns the scientist. In addition, those who experience extreme weather phenomena, such as floods, or even storms, also suffer from mental problems such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
“Let’s start putting tools in place, let’s take action against climate change, we haven’t started making action plans despite already knowing its consequences.”
“Let’s start putting tools in place, let’s take action against climate change, we haven’t started making action plans despite already knowing its consequences on health”, regrets Linares
There is even an increase in traffic accidents in periods of heat waves because people don’t rest as well with reduced reflexes and are more nervous. This has been detected by experts from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. “The Iberian Peninsula suffers from everything, because as soon as we get Atlantic climate like humidity and cold or the polar vortex, as soon as we get dry air and loaded with Saharan dust particles, we will have to adapt to extreme situations,” says the scientist
High temperatures exacerbate diseases which are already present, warns Julio Diaz. “A person with a neurological disease is especially at risk because their hypothalamus has no sensation of heat and, therefore, no need to hydrate, or an elderly person may have a ruptured artery because one of the key mechanisms to fight against the increase in temperature is the dilation of the arteries, or the renal or cardiovascular problems“, explains the scientist
In fact, most deaths during heat waves are not caused by heat stroke, “that’s a tiny percentage,” he points out, but are caused by the high temperatures exacerbate the symptoms of pathologies already present, and those who suffer from them die as a result. And, beware, because global warming is raising maximum temperatures above what was predicted
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