The 2023 Basque Country's Environmental Profile analyses the effects of climate change and the presence of urban green spaces on the health of the population

01/07/2024

The recent 2023 Basque Environmental Profile, produced by Ihobe, sheds light on the effects of climate change on the health of the Basque population. This document — based on a scorecard of 18 indicators — monitors the 7 most important environmental determinants of health, including climate change and urban green spaces.

Climate change  

Increase in extreme weather events

The main results of the Basque Country's health and environmental profile show that extreme weather events related to climate change, such as heatwaves, have increased significantly in the Basque Country since 1971. Specifically, they have risen in number at a rate of 0.4 events per decade; 4.8 heatwaves were recorded in 2022, which is equivalent to nearly twice as many as the historical average. As regards their length — even though the annual time series analysed does not show a significant variation — the longest heatwave in the Basque Country overall in 2022 lasted 8.9 days, a figure which is the third highest value since at least 1971. Furthermore, tropical nights, defined as those when the temperature does not drop under 20ºC, have shown a significant upward trend of 0.2 nights/decade, mainly affecting the metropolitan areas of Bilbao and Donostia/San Sebastián. On the flip side, the Basque Country recorded 20.6 days of cold snaps in 2022, the fifth highest value since 1971.

Impact on the health of the population

Those climate changes have had a direct impact on public health. In 2022, 171 deaths in the Basque Country were attributed to extreme changes in temperature; heatwaves, in particular, are the deadliest extreme weather event in Europe.

Climate change is also associated with the increase in neurological, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as it aggravates pre-existing conditions and reduces water and air quality. Furthermore, cold snaps can also lead to signs of hypothermia and frostbite, weaken the immune response, and exacerbate chronic diseases.

Threat of invasive species

The rise in global temperature — along with other factors stemming from climate change —  has an impact both on the spread of multiple disease that were previously only found in warmer or tropical climates, such as the impact of vector-borne diseases carried by invasive species. Mosquitoes of the Aedes spp. genus and ticks, for example, are a risk to public health as they are disease vectors; 21 species of mosquitoes and 19 of ticks have been identified in the Basque Country, together with an increase in the activity of those vectors due to the rise in temperature.

Need for pressing measures

As the report stresses, implementing mitigation and adaptation measures that address both the indirect and direct effects of climate change on public health is crucial to moderate the impacts of climate change in that regard. Accordingly, environmental standards in urban areas need to be improved to reduce the disease burden and comply with the air quality targets. Furthermore, strategies must be developed to manage the risk associated with heat waves and cold snaps, and to control the proliferation of invasive species. It also highlights the importance of further progress in environmental policies that improve public health, and in specific studies to determine the mortality and morbidity burden caused by environmental determinants in the Basque Country.

Urban green spaces

Access to green spaces in cities

The report stresses that the Basque Country has a markedly urban society and notes that the cities are the key environment to drive sustainability and social welfare. Those large urban centres, however, have great concentrations of vehicles, which cause poor air quality and higher environmental noise levels, along with the heat island effect and a smaller proportion of trees and green spaces; that all leads to poorer results and is a priority work area to create healthy environments. In this vein, the report's recommendations include the importance of green spaces, particularly important for socially disadvantaged populations, children and the elderly. Currently, 94% of the Basque population has access to urban green spaces of at least 1,000 m2 within 300 m of their home; in general, the majority of the municipalities have more than 10-15 m2 of green area per inhabitant (minimum value and recommended by the WHO, respectively), even though there is still work to be done by several large and medium-sized municipalities, such as Bilbao (8.1 m2/inhab.).

Benefits of green spaces

Spending time in high-quality natural settings fosters good health and wellbeing. Furthermore, according to the European Environment Agency, every 10% increase in green space is associated with a reduction in diseases equivalent to a rise in five years of life expectancy. In terms of specific results, exposure to natural environments is associated with better mental health and cognitive function, lower cardiovascular morbidity, less type 2 diabetes, fewer adverse pregnancy outcomes, and lower mortality due to cardiovascular diseases and to any other causes.

Furthermore, it stresses that the benefits of green spaces are not exclusively focused on the effects on the population's health, but they also provide multiple benefits to improve other environmental factors, which, in turn, affect health as well. Those spaces can help to tackle the impacts of climate change, such as the urban heat island effect and flooding. Urban green spaces can also stabilise urban temperatures and reduce energy requirements for heating and cooling buildings, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

ACCESS TO THE 2023 BASQUE ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE. HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT