For generations, we have taken for granted that the seasons were stable and predictable. Long summers, yes, but within reasonable limits. However, science is beginning to tell us that this stability is at risk. A study published in the journal Nature Communications warns that, by the end of this century, summers could last up to 42 days longer than they do today.
This is not an exaggeration or a baseless catastrophic prediction. These are scientific projections built from real climate data and how temperatures are evolving due to global warming.
The lengthening of summer doesn't come alone. If the warm months extend, winters inevitably shorten. This represents a profound change in natural cycles that affect agriculture, water availability, human health, and ecosystems.
The Earth's climate has always changed, but historically, these changes occurred over hundreds or thousands of years. Today, in just a few decades, we are forcing transformations that previously required centuries. And when change is so rapid, the capacity of societies and nature to adapt is drastically reduced.
A longer summer doesn't just mean more days at the beach. It implies more frequent heat waves, greater heat stress for older people, increased energy consumption for cooling, and greater pressure on water resources.
Agriculture will be one of the hardest hit. Crops adapted to shorter seasons may lose productivity, and the risk of prolonged droughts will increase. All of this will have a considerable economic and social impact.
Adapting is costly; preventing is less so. Reducing the effects of longer summers will require urban planning, better-prepared infrastructure, resilient healthcare systems, and a profound transformation of the energy model. All of this is possible, but it will be much more expensive than having acted earlier to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Science is clear on this: the longer we delay making decisions, the greater the economic and human cost will be. But we barely listen.
If these projections come true, we will leave behind an uncomfortable legacy, as our descendants will live in a world with altered seasons and persistent heat. It doesn't seem like a legacy they can be particularly proud of.
Climate change is not an ideological issue, but a physical and statistical one. The data is there for all to see. Ignoring it doesn't make it disappear.
The question isn't whether the climate is changing, which we already know it is, but what we are going to do today to prevent those 42 extra days of summer from becoming the new normal.
And this is just a matter of time.
EN 
ES