Extreme temperatures have long since ceased to be an exception and have become a recurring threat to health. Now the arrival of a super-El Niño could exacerbate this trend and cause 451,000 additional heat-related deaths worldwide over the next six months, according to an estimate by the Climate Impact Lab, a research group linked to the University of Chicago.

The world knew that the next El Niño would be powerful, but this Thursday, forecasts confirmed that this climatic phenomenon will be of great intensity and will have unpredictable consequences. The UN warns that the peak of this episode will be experienced at the end of 2026, but that it will extend until 2027, a year that could become the warmest recorded to date.

The first thing Adrià Plana, a dermatology specialist at Germans Trias Hospital, makes clear about the frequency with which children should shower is that scientific evidence is scarce. Studies on bathing practices, he points out, are very complex to conduct, which is why, often, "the recommendations we make as dermatologists and pediatricians are based more on theoretical assumptions and our cultural heritage than on firm scientific evidence." Broadly speaking, he adds, what we could say is that bathing cleanses, eliminates microorganisms from the skin, and also eliminates some of the fatty acids found in the skin and hair. This, the dermatologist warns, causes the skin "to have a lower bacterial load and be cleaner, but it also causes the skin to dry out because there is an increase in transepidermal water loss."

Emergency teams are looking for an 8-year-old boy who disappeared this afternoon between Segarra and Solsonès. The child was at a holiday camp at Casa Auró Natura de Llanera, in the municipality of Torà, when he was last seen. Authorities were notified of his disappearance at 3.30 pm.