NASA has identified the cities in Spain that will be uninhabitable in 2050

It would be too easy if climate change were only related to an increase in temperature in some areas and a decrease in others. But it is not. Scientists agree that, along with this, the frequency of seasonal phenomena will also increase: rain will be more frequent and abundant, as well as heat waves or snowfall. All this will make “By 2050, some parts of our planet will be uninhabitableAccording to a NASA report.

To arrive at this conclusion, the space agency has used two tools. The first of them is reports from all available meteorological satellites to prepare a map with a projection of three to five decades into the future.

The second “tool” is known as the wet bulb index, a measurement that “indicates.” the lowest temperature to which an object can cool when the moisture in it evaporates”, according to NASA. To arrive at this index, air temperature and humidity are added, telling us the thermal limit we can tolerate while dissipating heat through sweat.

and the conclusion is this That limit reaches 35º C for six consecutive hoursAfter that time, we can no longer regulate body temperature outside. “The results have important implications – explains the NASA report -.” The hotter it is, the more stressed our body feels and the more we need to sweat to cool down. But humid air is less able to hold excess moisture, so water evaporates more slowly in humid conditions.

This is the mark The difference between 35º C in some countries and the same temperature in others: environmental humidity. Once the wet bulb temperature exceeds 35ºC, “no amount of sweating or other adaptive behavior is enough to lower the body to a safe operating temperature,” says Colin Raymond, one of the people responsible for the study that identified the “thermal frontier.” . Most of the time this isn’t a problem, as wet bulb temperatures are typically 5 to 10ºC lower than body temperature, even in hot and humid places.

Obviously, it’s very complicated to predict when we’ll see global wet bulb temperatures regularly exceed 35ºC. That’s because it’s a complex process that occurs slowly and develops differently in different places. “But climate models – Raymond concludes – tell us that in some regions temperatures are likely to exceed this level in the next 30 to 50 years. The most sensitive areas include South Asia, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea around 2050; and eastern China, parts of Southeast Asia and Brazil by 2070.”

To this we must add that it is not just about reaching such temperatures for a few days. It must be something that is sustained over time. According to the report The Future We Do Not Want, the NCCS (NASA Center for Climate Simulation), has been prepared with data from four satellites from Madrid, the Valencian Community and Andalusia. In 2050, we will experience temperatures of 35º C or more for three consecutive months. The positive thing is that these areas are not as humid as the more tropical and hazardous areas of the planet mentioned above.