Seville to name and classify heatwaves under climate change efforts

The city of Seville in Andalusia, Spain, will be reportedly naming and classifying heatwaves, becoming the first in the world to do so, with the aim to better protect its residents as instances of extremely hot weather become more common.

This move is part of a year-long pilot project being carried out in one of the hottest cities in Spain, which will be classifying heatwaves into three categories.

Antonio Muñoz, Mayor of Seville, stated that the effort is part of a bigger set of initiatives that are aimed at curbing climate change.

In a statement, Muñoz claimed that Seville is the first city in the world to be taking such a step to help it plan and take appropriate measures when such meteorological events happen, especially as heatwaves are known for affecting the most vulnerable.

The program comes after the country went through one of its earliest recorded heatwaves, with May being ranked as one of the hottest in 58 years.

The state meteorological agency, Aemet, noted that the frequency of heatwaves in the country has doubled in comparison to previous decades.

Montoro, a town 100 miles from Seville, recorded a temperature of 47.4°C last year, Spain’s highest ever.

At the center of the program is an algorithm that can forecast heatwaves up to five days in advance and classify them based on their possible impact on human health and mortality.

Each category will be associated with specific measures, ranging from the opening of municipal swimming pools to sending health workers for checking up on at-risk individuals, such as the elderly.

The project has been launched in collaboration with the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre, which aims at building resilience amid climate change, alongside public health experts, climatologists, and social and behavioral scientists.

The Arsht-Rock center is working with seven more cities, such as Greece and Melbourne, on parallel plans of ranking or categorizing heatwaves, out of which Seville is the first with plans of naming heatwaves.

Kathy Baughman McLeod, Director of Arsht-Rock, stated that the center aims to create awareness of climate change’s deadly impact and save lives.