Humans have been naming hurricanes to identify them from each other, and then in 2012, the US unofficially gave nicknames to winter storms. For the first time, scientists bestowed an official name to a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) in Seville, Spain.
Associate professor José María Martín Olalla from Sevilla University's department of condensed matter physics told USA Today that the effort aims to raise awareness to the public of the extreme temperatures and warn them of the dangers of this "silent killer."
World's First Named Heat Wave
The world's first named heat wave is called Zoe, a name given as an effort from the proMETEO Sevilla Project, which is an initiative of the Washington-based research center and non-profit organization Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center of the Atlantic Council.
Seville, Spain, is the pilot location for the project that aims to advocate for efforts to reduce the dangers of heat waves. The location just had a record-breaking heat wave and earned the severe tier in the city's new heat wave ranking system.
According to Live Science, heat wave Zoe has brought scorching temperatures to the country's southern part in the last few days, especially in Andalusia and Seville. Even during the night. The Spanish State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) recorded temperatures that hovered in the mid-80s, which burdens people even more who rely on cooler nights from the high daytime heat.
The Spanish meteorological service defines heat waves as episodes of at least three consecutive days during a minimum of 10% of weather stations recording maximum temperatures of over 95% for July to August between 1981 to 2000.
There is no such definition in the US, but the Environmental Protection (EPA) says that heat waves are classified when for at least two days, the daily minimum temperature is greater than 85% for July and August between 1982 and 2010.
A man uses a hand fan in a park in central Madrid during a heatwave, on August 2, 2022.
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Heat Waves Are Silent Killers
Juan Espadas, the former mayor of Seville, said in a statement last year that the extreme heat waves are becoming more frequent and devastating as a direct effect of climate change. He added that they are proud that the city is the first to develop and implement a naming system for heat waves that categorizes them to save thousands of lives and encourage other places to adopt such a system.
There is still no worldwide consensus on identifying heat waves, but Time magazine reports that countries use the term to refer to periods of extreme heat higher than average.
Kathy Baughman McLeod, senior vice president and director of the research center that helped design Seville's system, said that naming heat waves will help build a "culture of awareness."
Heat waves can be dangerous, particularly for older people and vulnerable individuals who do manual labor outdoors. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded an estimated 125 million people being exposed to extreme heat between 2000 and 2016.
Last month England exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for the first time, which is a deadly level of heat where air conditioning is not available or when buildings are built not to cope with temperatures.
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