degrees

If the question is whether trees and vegetation serve to combat the heat, the Bioparc of Valencia has the answer: 13 degrees less

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Going out for a walk through the center of a big city at three in the afternoon in the middle of July is a great challenge for many people because they literally begin to roast due to the high temperatures. But in these situations, taking shelter in a dense park promises relief almost immediately, as has been demonstrated in different areas of Valencia such as the Bioparc, where the wind chill drops 13 degrees with respect to the asphalt environment, as its sensors have demonstrated. A question of perception. When we read “13 degrees minus”, our brain immediately thinks about the air temperature. And this is where it is important to qualify, since a tree is not going to take air at 40 °C and magically convert it into air at 27 °C. However, air temperature is only part of the equation. What really determines whether we are comfortable or on the verge of heat stroke is the cthermal comfort, measured by indices like PET (Physiological Equivalent Temperature). These indices take into account air temperature, but also humidity, wind speed and, above all, the average radiant temperature. On the street. Science in this case shows that direct solar radiation on our skin and the heat radiated by hot asphalt trigger our thermal stress. A specific study on shade infrastructure and outdoor thermal comfort demonstrated that urban shading can reduce the PET index between 9.4 and 17.1 ºC. Therefore, the 13-degree drop cited by the Valencia data fits perfectly with what science has been measuring for years. The air temperature does not drop drastically, but the radiant load does plummet. Why are trees so good? Here science has shown that tree canopies block direct solar radiation, and a field study of tree shading confirms that this interception of sunlight causes large drops in the mean radiant temperature under the canopy, eliminating the “oven effect” of direct sun. But they also act as a natural air conditioner, since, unlike a metal awning or pergola, which heat up and radiate heat, the trees are alive. This means that they absorb water through the roots and release it in the form of vapor through the leaves. This process consumes thermal energy from the environment, actively cooling the air around them, even if it is a few tenths or a couple of degrees. We need trees. The debate about whether to put more or fewer trees in a square is no longer a purely aesthetic or landscaping issue. It is directly a matter of public health, since science is quite clear that exposure to extreme heat triggers mortality and morbidity. That is why these natural environments act as a protective shield that is very necessary. It is no coincidence that institutions such as the Climate Cities Network are publishing technical guides to integrate “climate shelters” into urban planning. And it is no wonder because a climate shelter is nothing more than a space that offers safe thermal conditions for the vulnerable population during episodes of extreme heat. And the data makes it clear, since a well-designed park, with trees with wide, dense crowns, is one of the best possible refuges. Images | Andy Lee In Xataka | In the 19th century it was planted in parks for its beauty: today this tree is one of the trees that breaks the most pipes and sidewalks in Spain

The sea in Benidorm has warmed three degrees in just five years. The data is scary, but science has an explanation

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The waters of the Mediterranean have been undergoing drastic changes in temperature in recent years and the coast of Alicante has become “ground zero” for this phenomenon. Here a recent report indicates that the sea temperature on the coast of Benidorm has experienced a rise of 3 °C in the last five yearsand although it may end up scary, it has an explanation. The temperature difference. The thermal jump detected in Benidorm is real and, if we look at the records of the Valencian coast, at the beginning of July 2024 the sea surface temperature was around 24 °C. But now in July 2026, the thermometers read between 26 and 28 °C. That is, an anomaly of up to 4 degrees in just a couple of years in specific areas. However, in climatology a background trend is not the same as an extreme event, and we are clear that the rise of 3 °C in five years reflects a marine heat wave, an extreme peak of the situation. As expected. If we look at the full movie, the data from the Copernicus Marine Service confirm that the long-term warming rate of the Mediterranean is 0.4 °C per decade. This means that the “base” temperature should have risen by about 0.12 °C in the last five years, and not 3 °C, so what is happening off the coast of Benidorm is a radical anomalous event fueled by the lack of winds, the anticyclone and high sunshine. We continue to increase. The fact that it is a peak that can end up being recovered and not the base trend does not mean that we should breathe easy, since marine heat waves are like fever: a symptom that the patient is going through a difficult time, and the Mediterranean is the reality that is not going through its best moment. The data of SOCIB in its 2025 report They pointed out that the year was the second warmest year since 1982, with an average sea surface temperature of 21.1 ºC, only surpassed by 2024. But the most revealing data comes from the CLIVAR-Spain program of the AEMET and the IEO-CSIC when they point out that The waters surrounding Spain are warming at a rapid rate between 60% and 200% higher than the global average. The Mediterranean bears the brunt, warming up to three times faster than the average world ocean. The transition. This summer of 2026 is being especially hard, since at the end of June, the AEMET recorded that the Mediterranean reached 26.63 °C on average, being 2.6 °C above normal. And if we go outside the average, in the western basin, the Copernicus satellites have managed to capture astonishing peaks of up to +8 °C above the historical averages (1991-2020) in very localized areas. The importance for Benidorm. A sea at 28°C alters ecosystems, endangers Posidonia meadows, attracts invasive species and, from a meteorological point of view, acts like a can of gasoline. Such a hot sea does not cool the night atmosphere on the coast, aggravating the torrid nights, and accumulates an immense amount of energy that, when colliding with the first gusts of cold air in September, can trigger more violent damage and torrential rains. Images | Emilio Sanchez Hernandez In Xataka | Sea temperature continues to rise and experts are clear: “It is partly favored by the start of a new El Niño phenomenon”

We think that the fan saves us from the heat, but above 35 degrees it achieves exactly the opposite effect.

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With the arrival of high temperatures, the fan becomes a great ally in many homes that cannot have the air conditioning on all day long. When you turn it on, it blows the air into your face and you feel almost immediate relief from the heat, but the reality is that we do not have this effect at any temperature, since there is a point beyond which it not only stops being useful, but can become our worst enemy. It doesn’t cool the air. To understand why a fan can be dangerous, you first have to understand how it works. Just like point out the guidelines of the According to the WHO on indoor temperatures, fans do not lower the temperature of the room even a single degree, since all they do is move the air. The relief we feel is due to a purely physiological mechanism which is the evaporation of sweat. By moving the air around us, the fan accelerates the evaporation of moisture from our skin, which “steals” heat from our body and cools us down. But the problem comes when the air in the room is hotter than our own body. The critical point. The normal temperature of human skin is around 35ºC and thermoregulation systems try to keep it that way. The problem arises when the ambient temperature of the room exceeds that figure, since the fan will begin to move air that is hotter than the temperature of our skin, and instead of dissipating body heat, it will be injecting heat from the environment directly. And it is something that is supported, for example, by the Basque Government’s Heat Plan, which point that fans stop being effective and useful when the air exceeds 35-36 °C. But in the United States they are even more demanding, since the CDC advise against its use above 32.2 ºC. Beyond temperature. Although the general rule says that above 35 ° C you should turn off the fan, science suggests that humidity matters as much or more than temperature. Thus, in dry heat conditions the fan is harmful, since if the air is hot and dry, the sweat evaporates on its own without needing help from the fan. But turning on the fan only pushes hot air against the skin. In the case of being in a humid environment, sweat does not evaporate as well, and that is why we feel ‘sticky’, especially in a coastal environment. In this scenario, the fan does help to break up that layer of humidity, and the Sydney studies showed that they can continue to be beneficial even up to 42°C. The most vulnerable. Despite these data, the highest authority in medical literature review, Cochrane, posted a review in which it points out that there is no high-quality evidence that unequivocally demonstrates that fans reduce the adverse impacts on heat waves. The reason is precisely in the mix of factors such as humidity, age and, above all, the state of health with which we face these high temperatures. But we must focus above all on age, which is a critical factor, since the body’s ability to sweat and thermoregulate decreases with age or with certain medications. This is why a fan can save a young person from trouble, but it can dehydrate and cause heat stroke in an older person under the same conditions. Images | Dương Nhân In Xataka | What science says about the “trick” of two crossed fans to cool the house: it works, but with limits

We are at 44 degrees and AEMET says that the worst is yet to come. The good news is that we already know when thermal relief arrives.

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We’re sweating, let’s face it. And it’s Monday and you don’t even want to look at the car thermometer. Above all, because AEMET has already been warning that the worst is coming on Tuesday: even 44 degrees in the interior valleys, hellish nights in the southeast and anomalies of more than 20 degrees in the north. And yet, at the bottom of weather prediction models (where hours almost become weeks) cold scenarios begin to appear. “Anomalies of -12 degrees to start July“, you hear them say. And yes, the map is correct, the data says that. The problem is everything else. Although first of all, good news: thermal relief is close. “It will arrive in the middle of the week”a breath of fresher air” from the northwest. This will help cool the heat that “has settled in much of the Iberian Peninsula during the end of spring and the beginning of summer.” It doesn’t mean, of course, that it won’t be hot. Even if (as some maps point out) temperatures stay a couple of degrees below normal, it will still be hot. However, the decline will be clear. For reference, Bilbao will go from 42 to 29 in 48 hours. And now let’s continue with July. Indeed, some outputs of AIFS v2the European Center’s artificial intelligence model, are showing very curious anomalies for the first days of July. There are, in fact, three traps: the first is the deadline. Ten days, whether we like it or not, is still a long time to close a forecast. The second is that we are talking about anomalies: -12 degrees of anomaly is a lot, yes. But above July levels it is not ‘as much’ as ​​it might seem. At most we will have spring weather left. Something that will be well received, but that can become a problem if we do not manage expectations correctly. The last trap is to understand that ‘a week’ is not ‘a weather’. It is true that we have already had two very rare high temperature events (which, it seems, are caused by variations in the jet stream). It is also true that the idea of ​​a cold first of July conveys a certain idea of ​​a thermal ‘roller coaster’. But neither an early heat wave nor a thermal bump changes the reality: that summer is getting harsher. That is to say, we run the risk of the idea that “the weather is crazy” take hold when it is a lie. We do not live in a world where cold and heat are distributed as if the days were distributed in a lottery: we live in a world that is warming. Which heats up much hotter and faster than we would like. What can we expect? In the short term, a little more heat and a little thermal relief. There will be some showers in the west, first; and in the east, later. Then, if everything ends up being confirmed, a few days that are a little cooler (and wetter than normal). In the medium term, everything indicates that more of the same: hot, very hot. Image | BenBaso In Xataka | This map reveals the exact ‘climate clone’ of your city (and the result is surprising)

an anomaly of up to 15 degrees never seen since 1950

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Right now, as I write this, “there is the possibility that next week’s temperatures will be Record”. That is, “the highest recorded in Spain since 1950” for that date. The American model, without going any further, It is 46 degrees for areas of Portugal and Extremadura. What there is no doubt is that a “very extreme” warm episode is coming with anomalies between 10 and 1 degrees above normal. I repeat because it is difficult to assimilate: between 10 and 15 degrees. At this point in June 2026, the only discussion is whether we will see the first heat wave of the year. A debate that does not focus on the heat we are going to experience (which, except in areas affected by storms, will be a lot), but on how long the extreme event will last. What is going to happen? In principle, as explained Álvaro Oliver“a ridge will spread from the Sahara that will practically reach the polar circle.” The consequence of having a “great subtropical advection, with temperatures at 850 hPa close to 30°C” is that, “on the surface, 40°C will be reached in many points and will be widely exceeded in the valleys.” It is true that “no need to take it for granted maximum temperatures” because there will be convection, cloudiness and “stormy spells that generate intense gusts of wind.” In other words, the warm advection will probably not be as “stable” as the last one and that will be especially noticeable in the western Cantabrian. However, the resulting picture is dramatic. What can we expect? In terms of temperatures (and beyond an unprecedented crisis in the south of France), maximums around or above 35 ºC in the middle of the week even on the Northern Plateau and the possibility of 40 ºC in the interior of the southern half. This, however, refers to the most intense phase of the phenomenon. What worries experts is that many scenarios maintain the warm anomaly throughout the last fortnight. Hence the doubt persists about whether or not there will be a heat wave. To do this, the extreme temperatures have to last three days. Either way, this is real. Whether or not there is a ‘heat wave’ will be a technical question. The important thing is that the signal is there: the heat waves in Spain they doubled their frequency in 2011-2020 compared to each of the previous decades since 1975 and appear earlier and earlier. June 2025 was cool, but we already have the heat knocking on our door here. What does all this imply? Plus the heat is already here. It’s a wake-up call: the first extreme events of the season They are always the most dangerous. Neither our houses, nor our clothes, nor our physiology are completely adapted. And that, in people with health problems (or very exposed to heat) can be a top priority health problem. Image | Tropical Tidbits In Xataka | We have not known for 30 years why there is an area of ​​the Atlantic that cools while the planet burns. Now we have an idea

“Temperatures between 5 or 10 degrees above normal will continue,” says Rodríguez Marcos of AEMET.

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We’ve known this for weeks. AEMET believes that the June-July-August quarter of 2026 will be in the warm tertile throughout Spain and the truth is that it is not a very risky bet. Of the 10 heat waves that AEMET has been counted in June in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands since 1975half are concentrated in the last decade. The underlying problem is that, as we are seeing, June has ceased to be a ‘transition’ month to join (statistically and climatically) the summer ‘in a chemically pure state’. Like ‘June’ is ‘summer’? Climatologically it already was, of course. The climatic summer began on June 1. The difference is what the AEMET tells us: the same definition of heat waves was calibrated taking into account the highest temperatures of July and August. That it is increasingly common for June to begin to exceed these temperatures is a clear indication of what we are talking about. Above all, because the wave of June 2025 (from June 18 to July 4) It lasted 17 days and affected 40 provinces: the third longest and the third most extensive of the series. It’s not that this isn’t “the heat from before”, it’s that the situation is out of control. What does this translate into? As explained Francisco Javier Rodríguez Marcos of the AEMET, what the models say is that the temperatures this quarter will be among the 30 highest on record. This will especially affect the northern area, the east of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The line to overcome is clear: the 46 ºC that El Granado (Huelva) reached on June 29 of last year. It is, so far, the highest temperature ever recorded in Spain in the month of June. But in 2026 isn’t that ‘weird’? It is true that we are coming from the wettest winter in 47 years, but it is also true that April was the warmest April in the historical series. That is, no one knows what is ‘normal’ in 2026 and, in this sense, no one can say that the scenario that is drawn is strange. The important thing is to prepare. In some ways, early waves have a potentially greater health impact because the body is not yet acclimated to the heat at the beginning of the season. In this sense, it is best to advance the preparation of the homes (insulation, cooling, night ventilation) and start preparing our daily lives. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | There are areas of Pakistan and India touching 50º C: human beings are discovering where their physiological limit is

the Mediterranean reaches 20 degrees and today a DANA is going to show us what it means

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Let’s start at the beginning: what is going to happen today in Castellón is something completely ordinary. A DANA coming down from the Cantabrian Sea and discharging water over the interior and coast of Castellón, perhaps some hail and intense gusts of wind. The extraordinary thing is everything else, everything that surrounds it: the warmest April in decades, the Mediterranean with a ‘heat wave’ at the beginning of May and the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen in the coming years. What we do know is what is going to happen now. Because, as I said, the DANA was located on the Cantabrian Sea and has been moving towards the east. The point is that the most unstable sector of this DANA spreads today over the north of Castellón. Once there, the DANA, the surface winds and a steep orography facing southeast force the rise of humid air from the Mediterranean. That is the recipe for potentially very intense convective nuclei in inland regions. By Wednesday or Thursday the situation will improve. As I say, a priori, it is nothing exceptional… Although we normally associate DANAs with autumn, the truth is that spring is also a time when they are abundant. What makes this event worth studying is the context that surrounds it. …except for one thing. At the end of April, anomalies of 2 to 3 degrees were recorded in the Gulf of Valencia, the area around the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. A fact that summarizes all this: the Sa Dragonera buoy It touched 20 degrees on April 26while the average for the Balearic Sea in April is 14.9. A warmer Mediterranean in spring is equivalent to more moisture available in the lower troposphere. When there is a contribution of cold air at altitude, that moisture becomes fuel: greater convective instability and more intense rains in less time. This is the problem. While AEMET maintains the yellow noticethere is no reason to assume more danger than expected. However, it is true that it is increasingly difficult to rule out torrential accumulations in any month of the year. The question is not whether it will rain a lot or not, the question is that DANAs arise on a Mediterranean different from the one that served as a reference to build our infrastructures and our warning thresholds. Image | BenBaso In Xataka | There are meteorologists who are already comparing El Niño of 2027 with that of 1877, a catastrophic event that wiped out 4% of the population

Why more and more Gen Z students prefer trades over college degrees

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Forty years ago China decided to invest in training millions of engineers who have turned out Be your ace in the hole in the AI ​​race. In fact, it is the country with the highest number of STEM graduates in the world and while ups its ante on doctoratesboth the government of the Asian giant and generation Z have begun to pay attention to vocational training. The graduate bubble. The Chinese Ministry of Education counted in November 2024 that in 2025 there would be a historic number of graduates: 12.22 million, how to collect the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. With this panorama, the competition is fierce, also taking into account that The United States has made visas more difficult for those who decide to migrate. The Chinese Ministry of Education is offering different measures and support systems in the form of recruitment events in key regions and industries to alleviate unemployment among university students. It doesn’t seem enough. Labor demand changes. On the other hand, companies are changing their needs: official data show that the demand for people with a university degree fell from 20.3% to 17.4% last year. However, the number of those who had completed vocational training rose from 8.5 to 11%. The FP is so sought after that this segment was the one that had the highest rate of job offers in 2024. It is already a matter of state. Not only is it a labor market issue, but it is also a guideline that points towards a “Strong Educational Nation.” That is the objective of new state plan in education (2024 – 2035): China makes vocational training a state priority, committing to concrete measures such as more funding, improvements in facilities and the development of a modern skills system. In short, vocational training has the same importance as academic training to sustain technological self-sufficiency. As already happened in Europein China they are also stopping stigmatizing VET as an alternative for students with fewer resources or worse grades. The return on investment is no longer profitable. Sixth Tone picks up the testimonies of several young people and their experiences such as that of Ke Chenxi, who scored high enough on the gaokao (something like the PAU) to go to university, but he chose to enroll in a vocational school. Yes, economic and family circumstances were partly to blame, but also because the Wuhan Vocational Institute program offered shorter early childhood education courses, intensive internships, and faster incorporation into the labor market. Associate Professor of Shanghai Fudan University Gao Shanchuan speaks directly from the “income effect”, that is, from the belief that by going to university you will have a higher salary: “What is changing is that young people are beginning to evaluate education in a more pragmatic way. If vocational training leads to stable jobs and a reasonable income, their social prestige will improve over time.” Zhuo Ping is a teacher at Ke School and is clear that although VET is not going to replace universities, it does encourage students to choose according to their aptitudes and not just prestige: “We went from focusing solely on credentials to more substantially recognizing ability.” Wuhan is the epicenter of change. The Chinese city is a true higher education cluster, with more than 80 universities and a strong weight of technical careers. But also where VET is emerging: those who obtain their degree in trades already find work as quickly as their university counterparts, with a successful access rate to the labor market of over 98% in some institutions. And they do so by accessing the labor market faster and with more experience. That VET centers in Wuhan work closely with local companies to design training according to the needs of the industry and not according to rigid and theoretical itineraries will surely help. In fact, in Sixth Tone they pick up the statements of a human resources supervisor, who experiments with live reality, highlighting their good performance, adaptation and skill, although they have pending issues such as teamwork. In Xataka | China promised them very happy with day 996. Until they realized that it was a shot in the foot In Xataka | China has a huge youth unemployment problem. So much so that some people pay to pretend to work Cover | Green Liu and TruckRun

Having Spain at more than 40 degrees in September is not normal. Nor is what comes just after

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Summer warmer in records It continues determined to prolong, at least during this week. So much so that some meteorological stations have seen the Mercury again reach the brand of the 40º Celsius. Return at 40. Three weather stations from the southern peninsula reached or exceeded yesterday the 40º. They were those of El Granado, in Huelva (40.8º); Montoro, Córdoba (40.2º) and Badajoz (40º), According to the data of the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet). At least six others approached the brand, with temperatures of at least 39. The heat does not leave (yet). Today the story seems to be destined to repeat itself. The forecasts for today They point out that we will see temperatures Ascent maxims both in the Peninsula and in the Canary Islands. Of course, it will be in the north where the change is most accused and not in the south where temperatures, as we see, were already high yesterday. Aemet’s forecasts talk about temperatures above 35º at high and a half Ebro, in the Cantabrian, in southern Galicia, in some areas of the northern plateau and also in the southern half of the Atlantic aspect. Again, temperatures between 30º and 40º in the valleys of Guadalquivir and Guadiana can be expected. Minimum ascent are also expected with temperatures that do not lower the 20º in some areas. Notices for high temperatures. Aemet has issued numerous notices due to maximum high temperatures that will last during today and tomorrow. We can highlight yellow warnings with expected maximum temperatures of 39º in the valleys of the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir, as well as an orange notice due to important risk that will remain active this afternoon in the interior regions of Bizkaia. Not so normal. September is a month of high variability in regards to meteorology, covering the transit between summer and autumn. According to the climatological data Aemet, the average maximum temperature of the month of September does not usually exceed 32.5º. Being a month of relatively variable temperatures, clearly determine the relative magnitude of anomaly, but of course something seems clear: it is more hot than one would expect. Final in sight. It seems that the situation will change over the weekend. Meteorologists provide a change in trend that could be radical, not only with a decrease in temperatures but also by the arrival of storms and rain To a good part of the country. While change leads us to something that we could consider more normal for this time of year, abruptness and intensity of change are also notorious. In Xataka | Google has demonstrated with its AI that the prediction of storms and hurricanes is outdated. This is how your new model works Image | ECMWF

Here are all the degrees related to technology and science with their cutting notes

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In just a few days the University Access TestAka the Pau. It is a very marked date for the more than 300,000 students who have been preparing for at least two years to face these exams. It is not for less. Pau marks the end of one stage and the beginning of another, one that means making the leap to the university world and prepare for the professional world. If, after considering the different options, you have decided that your future is to study a university degree, the same doubt arises that arose to many at the time: which one to choose. If you usually visit Xataka or you like what we are dealing with on this website, it is possible that You are interested in technology, science, engineering, space or health. Thus, we have filtered each and every grades of each and every one of the faculties and cities so that, at a glance, you can see the offer of degrees, where they are taught and its cut -off note. The degrees of degrees related to technology and its cuts of cuts That the following table with its 1,021 cells does not intimidate you. Using it is really easy. In the upper part you will see a search engine. In it you can introduce the name of the degree, such as “computer engineering”, “artificial intelligence”, “mathematics” or “biotechnology.” You can also search for a city. In any case, and choose the filter you choose, You can order the offer of degrees by cutting note. By default, order is from highest to minor. If you are looking for another degree or want to know other cutting notes, RTVE has a very useful search engine on its website. How you can check, the degree with the greatest cutting note is the double degree of physics and mathematics at the University of Seville: A 13,764. The lowest is the minimum to approve: a five. The offer of degrees that can be accessed with the minimum note is wide and includes endless engineering. In fact, the vast majority of engineering between five and eight on average, and the number of places is usually wide. And that is good news. According to the study “The employability of young people in Spain 2024” of the CYD Foundation on work outputs according to the university career, engineering (electrical, industrial electronics, software development, telecommunications, etc.) are those that offer better working conditions in terms of Stability in contractssalaries and affiliation rates. On the other hand, the Emerging jobs and sectors report 2024 highlights the Professional boom in AI. The demand for data engineers and Machine Learning has grown 625% since 2019, and that of artificial intelligence engineers an annual 83%, both with very low competence of candidates for offer. Last year they enrolled to do 341,831 students and 90.2% approved. That is, 295,250 students took a five or more. Another thing is the average note. In 2024, the average grade of those presented to the general and specific part (necessary to aspire to remove a note greater than ten points) was 7.05 nationwide. If we talk about the degrees contemplated in the upper table, The average note is 8.87 points. Image | Flickr (University of Seville) In Xataka | Pau, EBAU or EVAU 2025: What are the dates in each autonomous community for the selectivity exam

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