Effects on Public Health of Heat Waves to Improve the Urban Quality of Life

Abstract

Life satisfaction has been widely used in recent studies to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on individuals' well-being. In the last few years, many studies have shown that the potential impact of climate change on cities depends on a variety of social, economic, and environmental determinants. In particular, extreme events, such as flood and heat waves, may cause more severe impacts and induce a relatively higher level of vulnerability in populations that live in urban areas. Therefore, the impact of climate change and related extreme events certainly influences the economy and quality of life in affected cities. Heat wave frequency, intensity, and duration are increasing in global and local climate change scenarios. The association between high temperatures and morbidity is well-documented, but few studies have examined the role of meteo-climatic variables on hospital admissions. This study investigates the effects of temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure on health by linking daily access to a Matera (Italy) hospital with meteorological conditions in summer 2012. Extreme heat wave episodes that affected most of the city from 1 June to 31 August 2012 (among the selected years 2003, 2012, and 2017) were analyzed. Results were compared with heat waves from other years included in the base period (1971-2000) and the number of emergency hospital admissions on each day was considered. The meteorological data used in this study were collected from two weather stations in Matera. In order to detect correlations between the daily emergency admissions and the extreme health events, a combined methodology based on a heat wave identification technique, multivariate analysis (PCA), and regression analysis was applied. The results highlight that the role of relative humidity decreases as the severity level of heat waves increases. Moreover, the combination of temperatures and daily barometric pressure range (DPR) has been identified as a precursor for a surveillance system of risk factors in hospital admissions.

The Linkage of the Large-Scale Circulation Pattern to a Long-Lived Heatwave over Mideastern China in 2018

“…For instance, the trend in heatwaves defined by a percentile threshold in eastern China is positive during the 1979-2010 period [9], especially since eastern China has experienced an increased occurrence of rapid warming and heatwave days following the 1990s [10]. Recently, more studies have been conducted, which focus on the factors that cause heatwaves, as heatwaves can lead to disastrous damages to human health, society and ecosystems [11][12][13][14]. Examples of disastrous heatwaves include the European heatwave in 2003 [15] and the Russian heatwave in 2010 [16][17][18].…”

A Statistical Procedure for Analyzing the Behavior of Air Pollutants during Temperature Extreme Events: The Case Study of Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy)

“…Using historical series of maximum temperature and following the methodology proposed in [3], Hot Days (HD) and Heat Waves (HW) for each sampling site and for each summer were determined. For each station, we defined the degree of severity of these extreme events, comparing the 2015-2017 data with the respective historical time series from 1971-2000.…”

“…In the last years, the scientific research linked to human health and wellbeing of populations in urban and industrialized areas mainly focused on two issues: climate change and air quality [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Climate change affects human wellbeing through many related events: increased frequency and intensity of heat waves and cold waves, changing precipitation intensity, and increased devastating weather events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts, cold-related mortality, and heat-related mortality [11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…Climate change affects human wellbeing through many related events: increased frequency and intensity of heat waves and cold waves, changing precipitation intensity, and increased devastating weather events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts, cold-related mortality, and heat-related mortality [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Observed climate trends show that temperatures are increasing, particularly extreme temperatures, with heat waves (HWs) becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting [3,[17][18][19][20]. In literature, many studies are focused on the effects of HWs and air pollution on human health, particularly on the increase in mortality and morbidity, whilst few studies investigate the link between HWs and air pollution [2,[21][22][23][24].…”

Analysis of Correlation between Climate Change and Human Health Based on a Machine Learning Approach

“…The influences of weather and climate on human health are significant and varied. They range from explicit threats of extreme temperatures and severe storms to connections that may seem less obvious [ 7 ]. For example, weather and climate affect the survival, distribution, and behavior of insects that carry diseases, particularly in arid zones.…”