The “heat dome”, a phenomenon that occurs when air masses stagnate and raise atmospheric temperatures, has been the protagonist in much of Europe, while forest fires triggered by heat have devastated Greece, Spain, Portugal, Canada, and Hawaii, and unusually high temperatures have marked winter in South America. John Nairn, an extreme heat specialist at the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO), warns that heat waves will intensify and increase in frequency due to global warming that is rapidly impacting weather systems.
Nairn emphasizes that science has already anticipated this trend but regrets that many people do not pay enough attention to it. He points out that high nighttime temperatures pose a particular threat to human health, as the body cannot adequately recover from the heat accumulated during the day. In addition, these higher nighttime temperatures prevent stored energy from dissipating, which in turn increases daytime temperatures on successive days.
The scientist warns about the prolongation of periods with high temperatures and is particularly concerned about regions such as South America, where heat records have been recorded in the middle of winter. Nairn points out that we face the prospect of experiencing more heat waves for a greater part of the year, especially in tropical and subtropical areas, where extreme heat waves could be common at any time of the year before the end of the century.
Faced with this problem, Nairn stresses the importance of acting. He points out that everyone has the ability to reverse this trend and suggests a transition to electricity and the elimination of burning fossil fuels as essential solutions to address global warming. In this sense, he emphasizes that the solution is not complex and is within the reach of collective action.