Everything indicates that the so -called heat waves have come to stay and are becoming a true threat to health in many regions of the world, which see how unusually high temperatures periods prolong and its frequency and intensity increases, due to global climate change.
With the increase in temperatures, heat is no longer just a seasonal discomfort: it is a real and growing risk for health, especially in the most vulnerable groups such as girls and boys, older, chronic patients and people in poverty or social isolation.
To deal with these extreme temperatures, it is essential to have adequate information so that people, families and institutions can anticipate and act properly to minimize risks.
Experts agree that heat harms health, but they also say that adaptation is able to reduce health impacts and save lives, even despite the increase in temperatures.
Therefore, together with public policies to guarantee cooler environments, self -protest habits against heat work, but their effectiveness depends largely on the fact that the population knows them, understands them and can put them into practice.
In this context, the initiative of the Health and Climate Change Observatory that has developed a “practical communication guide must be framed. Health and heat. Summer 2025 “, with the aim of improving communication on the effects of extreme heat on health and promoting self -protection behaviors before climate change.
The guide offers precise and practical guidelines especially directed to those who have the responsibility to inform because with well -designed communication, it is possible to alert in time and promote behaviors that reduce the risks.
12 tips to deal with a heat wave
1.Consult local weather forecasts and be attentive to the alerts of health and civil protection authorities.
2.Constantly hydrate, drink water, even if you are not thirsty, avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol or a lot of sugar.
3.Use light clothes, light colors and natural fabrics such as cotton; Protect the head with caps or hats.
4.Remain in fresh places, seek refuge in ventilated areas, with shade or air conditioning; Avoid closed and poorly ventilated spaces.
5.Avoid outdoor activities, especially between 12 and 18, when solar radiation is higher.
6.Refresh, use wet cloths, drink cold showers and get the skin frequently.
7.Ventilate the house, open windows during the night and early in the morning to refresh the atmosphere. Maintain closed curtains or blinds to prevent heat entry.
8.Place wet towels on windows or doors to refresh the environment.
9.Avoid the use of appliances that generate heat in central hours of the day.
10.Prepare fresh food, fruits, vegetables and other light foods.
11.Protect vulnerable people: maintain frequent contact with relatives, neighbors or friendships that may need special assistance.
12.Take care of pets, guarantee that they have fresh and shadow water and never leave them exposed to the sun and locked in vehicles
The Heat waves They are no longer an exception. They are a public health challenge that requires preparation, information and action. With initiatives such as this practical guide, progress is made towards a more conscious and better equipped society to protect your health against temperature increase.
Communication plays a crucial role, but communicating on heat and health is not easy. Summer is associated with positive emotions, risk messages are often perceived as excess if they are not explained well, and protective behaviors are not always adopted even if they are easy and effective.
Main messages on the impact of heat on health
The sick heat and kills. High temperatures have a strong negative impact on health, increasing hospital income, aggravating existing diseases and causing heat blows.
Although heat affects all people, there are personal, environmental, labor or social and local vulnerability factors that intensify their effects. Age, sex, the existence of previous pathologies are the most important.
Adaptation is a set of public policies and behaviors aimed at reducing or avoiding negative heat impacts. Scientific evidence shows that adaptation works and is able to partially compensate for temperatures increases due to climate change.
The temperature from which heat impacts health is different in each part of Spain depending on adaptation in that region, which we call heat culture. 28ºC in Galicia can be worse for health than 37ºC in Andalusia.
Meteosalud notices have three heat risk levels for health (yellow, orange and red). The risk level is increased by personal, environmental, labor and social factors that increase vulnerability.
There are two types of warm notices: the aemet weather and the Meteosalud of the Ministry of Health. Meteosalud notices due to health risk due to heat are the most important for citizens, although Aemet fulfills other functions.
Heat plans are public health strategies with which institutions promote heat adaptive behaviors. The “heat plan” of the Ministry of Health defines the thresholds of impact temperature, the warning levels and the actions for each level.
There is some multilevel coordination and state plans mark guidelines, but the final real execution depends on the autonomous communities and municipalities.
The Observatory of Health and Climate Change (OSCC) of the Government of Spain has presented the ‘Practical communication guide. Health and heat. Summer 2025‘, a key document to improve public communication on the effects of extreme heat on health and promote self -protection behaviors before climate change.
In a context of increasingly extensive and hot summers, this guide offers practical tools and recommendations based on scientific evidence so that journalists, institutional communicators, health personnel and public leaders can transfer more effective messages to citizens over extreme heat and their serious consequences in public health: according to data collected in the guide itself, hospital income increases up to 10% during the episodes of high temperatures, especially affecting high temperatures, especially affecting high temperatures, especially affecting high temperatures, especially affecting high temperatures. older, people with chronic vulnerable and collective diseases.
The guide provides evidence -based tools to transfer clear, useful and coherent messages that contribute to prevent impacts on health, promoting a more prepared and resilient society in the face of extreme heat.
The document includes strategies to promote individual and collective adaptation through clear, credible and adapted communication to the different audiences. Underline the importance of:
- Frame messages in terms of high risk and high efficacy, promoting simple and effective behaviors such as hydrating frequently or avoiding exposure during maximum heat hours.
- Adapt messages to the different vulnerability profiles, taking into account social, economic and territorial factors.
- Properly choose the tone and visual resources, avoiding images that reinforce the idea of enjoyment without risks.
- Use reliable sources such as health personnel, meteorologists or scientific to increase the credibility of messages.
- Rely on the alerts of the Meteosalud system, specially designed to assess the risk of heat based on health, and not only of the weather data.
MEEOSALUD NOTICE SYSTEM
Meteosalud is the official system of warning notices for heat health whose purpose is to inform citizens about the risk of high health temperatures, especially in those situations in which heat reaches dangerous levels for one or several consecutive days. Unlike Aemet’s adverse meteorological phenomena – which have a more general approach, aimed at multiple sectors – the Meteosalud notices are specifically designed to warn about health risks.
The Guide for Health and Heat Communication collects and explains the usefulness of this system, stressing that risk thresholds are established from statistical analysis that relate temperature and mortality by climatic zones. Meleosalud publishes an updated map with the heat risk levels planned for the day and the following two, allowing the population to anticipate and adopt effective protection measures. Both Aemet and the Ministry of Health recommend that, in contexts of health information, Meteosalud is preferably used as the main reference to warn the population of extreme heat risk.
HEALTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE OBSERVATORY
The OSCC, with the involvement of the ministries for ecological transition and demographic challenge, health and science, innovation and universities, stands out for its interdisciplinary composition. It has representatives of the General Directorate of Public Health; the Spanish climate change office; the Autonomous Agency of Health Carlos III; the State Meteorology Agency; the Spanish Food Security and Nutrition Agency; the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies; the State Agency Higher Council for Scientific Research; the Coordination Center for Health and Emergencies (CCAES) or the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT).
The document is part of the work of Observatory To integrate health into climatic action, and it is a new step towards a more effective, empathic and science -based public communication that reinforces resilience against the increase in heat waves that is already affecting the whole population, especially older people, with chronic diseases or in a situation of social vulnerability.