Dr José Rubiera: I Would Trade the Grill for the Freezer

September 19, 2019

In a work published on the Cuban Television portal, journalist Paquita de Armas converses with Dr. José Rubiera.

On several occasions the heat index has been at 38 and 41 degrees, according to a weather website; in France there are deaths and, people from Santiago, Tunas and Holguín say that in Havana it's hotter than in "the hot land".

With these concerns, this interview is conducted with Cuba's most popular communicator, who is essentially a renowned scientist, Dr. José Rubiera. He answered very quickly:

—Since 1981 you have been a radio and television communicator. What characteristics should a meteorologist have to provide the weather report?

—To say the most difficult things with simple, colloquial words, understandable by everyone, no technical jargon, although there are some words that through their repetition over the years people know, for example, anticyclone, cyclone, cold front, hurricane, etc. And all of that must continue to be explained repeatedly also in a way that everyone understands. A doctor, an engineer, a scientist from another field, a leader must understand it, but also a housewife, a bricklayer, or a community worker. One is a scientist, but you have to strip yourself of the pedestal, and speak to the people, because you work for the people.

The meteorologist perhaps also needs something additional, which is difficult to explain. When I stood in front of the television camera for the first time presenting meteorological information as a meteorologist, it was a live program on NTV in 1981. But I felt normal and spoke very fluently, a cold front was coming and had to be explained. But I felt normal, despite the change from my usual environment to cameras, microphones, lights, many people around. I remember that Manolo Ortega told me when it ended: you have "angel". I didn't understand exactly what he meant; perhaps over the years that have passed I still find it hard to understand it, something that one carries naturally and makes you understandable and communicative.

—In your biography one reads singular aspects such as a doctorate in Geographic Sciences; Vice President of the Hurricane Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Region IV (North America, Central America and the Caribbean); Doctor Honoris Causa in Physical Sciences; Order of Civil Merit, granted in Spain, all referring to your work as a researcher. Would your work have had the same resonance if you had not been "the man of the forecasts" on television?

—In some things yes and in others no. The part that is due to direct work, to study and to acquired scientific knowledge, as well as experience in forecast work, is one thing. But there are others that have come from the catapult of being the well-known "weatherman", a public figure.

—What do you feel being the reliable meteorologist for the audience as happened when Hurricane Irma?

—An immense responsibility on my shoulders and also the immense satisfaction of working for the people for as long as necessary.

—You are an expert in hurricanes, however in the weather report —a collective work— you make references to temperatures. How have they behaved this year?

—Well, I am a meteorologist and in my field of knowledge is everything that has to do with Meteorology and Climate. Temperature is nothing more than a meteorological variable.

At the planet level, 2019 will surely be catalogued as one of the warmest years known, perhaps more than the rest of this 21st century, in which each year has been warmer than the previous one. Global warming exists and is moving toward Climate Change, if unfortunately everything continues in the world as it is going.

—There is a unanimous cry in Cuba "it's so hot!", however I have not read or heard that several historical records have been broken. Is that suffocating sensation due to the heat index? Has it been higher this year than in others? Why?

—Yes, there has been a break. And no less than a new and important historic record of a national character. On June 30, 2019 at 3:30 p.m., the Veguitas station (Granma province) reported a maximum temperature value of 39.1 degrees Celsius, which turned out to be the highest in more than a century of records in the country. Therefore, that important and incredible maximum temperature value constituted a new absolute national heat record.

In other meteorological stations some monthly maximum temperature records were recorded, but this one from Veguitas is really very important. The previous record was 38.9 degrees and had been recorded in the province of Granma itself, in Jucarito, 20 years ago, in 1999.

—It is said that the heat in Havana has been higher this year than in Santiago de Cuba, Holguín and Las Tunas. Is that true?

—This question may be a bit long to answer. And here it deserves to talk about heat index, which is also related to part of the previous question.

The temperature we feel in our body, the sensation of temperature, of heat or cold, depends on the physiological mechanisms our body has so that body temperature does not exceed a certain value. The regulating mechanism is sweat. And along with the actual temperature that the thermometer gives, there is humidity and wind speed.

So if there is a temperature on the thermometer of 32 degrees and the humidity is very high, you sweat, but the sweat does not evaporate, it stays "stuck". By not evaporating, you are covered in sweat. When sweat does not evaporate, your body cannot cool down, it is your body that must give heat to the sweat so that it evaporates. By not being able to do so, due to saturation from high humidity, it also cannot cool down, the sensation you feel is very unpleasant, like a feeling of agony. The heat index would be equivalent to you being in an environment of 41 degrees.

To cool down, you have to remove the saturated humid layer that surrounds your body and this increases the possibility of evaporation, the body gives heat to the sweat so it evaporates and you feel a sensation of freshness. This is what happens when you sit next to a fan, which allows the saturated layer to go away, evaporation increases and you feel relief.

In Havana the wind comes from the ENE, loaded with humidity that comes from the sea; in Santiago de Cuba that prevailing wind comes from air that crosses the north coast, but rises the mountains, decreases humidity and arrives from land to that city. Therefore, it has less humidity and the heat index can be much lower then.

As good news I will add that our heat does not kill anyone, because it evaporates little, you are covered in humidity and instinctively drink water.

In continental countries it is another story, as happens in Europe, for example in France or Spain. There the so-called heat stroke occurs, which is the phenomenon that occurs when there are heat waves, that is, very dry air from the Sahara that arrives with extremely high temperatures. There are 40 degrees or more, but although you feel heat, there is no sweat, because it evaporates instantly due to the dry air environment. People do not realize this, they constantly lose water from their body and then heat stroke occurs, with death from heart attack. This occurs mainly in elderly people, whose thermoregulation mechanism functions poorly, but in certain conditions, it can happen to anyone. In France, in 2010, there were 15,000 deaths from one of these events.

—The forecast for the next few weeks. What does it say? Will we continue on the grill?

—September is still hot. Sometimes even October and other months are, although not as much, normally the temperature drops because the light of the Sun has less impact and also the days are shorter. The cold depends on the cold fronts and cold air masses that reach us from the continent.

But, believe me, if it were up to me I would trade the grill for the freezer…. Well, not quite that much…