Characteristics and impact of the Cuban heat wave in the summer of 2017
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The already visible impacts of climate change on Cuba are causing meteor-tropic effects associated with the extreme behavior of air temperature, with consequences, both in the behavior of the local climate and in the health of the population. In the first case, since 2015 and especially since the years 2023 and until June 2024, numerous successive air temperature records have been reported in the country; while from a sanitary point of view, the incidence of health crisis associated directly or indirectly with extreme hot sensations also increases, including death. The paper analyzes the extraordinary characteristics of the behavior of daily maximum and minimum air temperatures in the months of June to September 2017, identifies the national and provincial occurrence of extreme meteor-tropic effects associated with intense heat, synchronously comparing their incidence with records of excess daily mortality. It is demonstrated that the meteor-tropic effects associated with high daytime and nighttime temperatures act as external predisposing factors for the increase in excess daily mortality, identifying important differences in this relationship between provinces, in the dates of occurrence and magnitude of the daily maximums of excess mortality. It is shown that extreme events of intense heat already occur in Cuba and they can be classified as “heat waves,” which have a well-defined and significant impact on the health of people in vulnerable situations, a fact that justifies the need for their forecast and mitigation.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Those authors who have publications with this journal accept the following terms of the License Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0):
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
The journal is not responsible for the opinions and concepts expressed in the works, they are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Editor, with the assistance of the Editorial Committee, reserves the right to suggest or request advisable or necessary modifications. They are accepted to publish original scientific papers, research results of interest that have not been published or sent to another journal for the same purpose.
The mention of trademarks of equipment, instruments or specific materials is for identification purposes, and there is no promotional commitment in relation to them, neither by the authors nor by the publisher.