Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Wind Tunnel Experiments to Study Chaparral Crown Fires
Published on: November 14, 2017
Comparison between two methods of defining heat waves: a retrospective study in Castile-La Mancha (Spain)
J C Montero1, I J Mirón, J J Criado
1Health Sciences Institute, Castile-La Mancha Regional Health & Social Welfare Authority, Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), Spain. jcmontero@jccm.es
Introduction:
Following the 2003 heat wave, many European countries implemented heat-wave prevention plans. A number of aspects can prove fundamental in determining the effectiveness of such plans, and of these we sought to analyse the criteria used to define threshold temperatures and trigger a higher level of intervention.
Method:
Retrospective study of the days on which heat-wave thresholds were exceeded during the period 1974-2003 was conducted. We compared when and at what level the heat-wave prevention plan would have been activated using a statistical-meteorological criterion (as applied by the Spanish Ministry of Health & Consumer Affairs) versus a temperature-mortality criterion.
Results:
The number of days on which the threshold was exceeded was far higher when the temperature-mortality criterion was applied. The temperature percentile at which a heat wave occurred was different for each province analysed and was inversely proportional to its respective ageing index. Using both criteria, there was an increase in heat-wave days per decade.
Conclusion:
The establishment of a heat-wave threshold temperature must be based on knowledge of the cause-effect relationship between temperature and the health of a given population. Mortality is an appropriate indicator of population health. The future effects of climate change render it essential for this relationship to be studied on a local scale, so as to enable truly efficient prevention plans to be drawn up.
Related Concept Videos
Quantifying Heat
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
Heat Flow and Specific Heat
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Mechanism of heat transfer
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant heat.
