Heat Watch/Warning Systems Save Lives: Estimated Costs and Benefits for Philadelphia 1995–98

Ebi, Kristie L.; Teisberg, Thomas J.; Kalkstein, Laurence S.; Robinson, Lawrence R.; Weiher, Rodney

doi:10.1175/bams-85-8-1067

Cited by 273 publications

(225 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

214

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Municipal and workplace warning systems for heat waves are effective in reducing heat-related illness and death. 46 Reductions in ozone precursors reduce illness and death related to air pollution, as well as associated costs. Another study-of a sample of grants to mitigate hazard losses 47 -has demonstrated that the benefits of reducing climate-related hazards are considerable and outweigh the costs by a factor of 5.0:1 for flooding and 3.9:1 for wind.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Climate Change–Related Events In The United States Accounted For About $14 Billion In Lost Lives And Health Costs

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The future health costs associated with predicted climate change-related events such as hurricanes, heat waves, and floods are projected to be enormous. This article estimates the health costs associated with six climate change-related events that struck the United States between 2000 and 2009. The six case studies came from categories of climate change-related events projected to worsen with continued global warming-ozone pollution, heat waves, hurricanes, infectious disease outbreaks, river flooding, and wildfires. We estimate that the health costs exceeded $14 billion, with 95 percent due to the value of lives lost prematurely. Actual health care costs were an estimated $740 million. This reflects more than 760,000 encounters with the health care system. Our analysis provides scientists and policy makers with a methodology to use in estimating future health costs related to climate change and highlights the growing need for public health preparedness. C limate change endangers public health. Rising atmospheric temperatures increase the frequency, intensity, duration, and geographic extent of heat waves, air pollution episodes, wildfires, activity of infectious disease vectors, rising sea levels, storms, extreme rainfall, and flooding. 1,2Prior studies have estimated future health costs related to climate change.3-6 However, these figures are not specific enough to form the basis of health policy decisions. No US study has evaluated specific health outcomes associated with a set of events related to climate change. 7,8 There is currently no well-accepted structure for quantifying the costs of the human health effects of climate change, in part because of the challenges of identifying comprehensive health impact data and a lack of consensus on health cost valuation methods. Some methods estimate health costs in monetary terms; others use physical units such as the number of lives saved or the number of cases of illness avoided. Another approach is to use indicators such as quality-adjusted life-years, a measure that incorporates both mortality and morbidity effects. 9Estimating the health costs of climate change is important for informing health policy decisions. Evaluating health-associated costs using a common method and then aggregating the costs can allow us to compare the various effects of climate change-once normalized, to account for geographic and other differences-with regard to magnitude or importance. Case studies can also help us gauge the progress of climate change-related health preparedness policies over time under different adaptation scenarios. 9These scenarios present a range of possible regional climate effects, varying health vulnerabilities, and changing social and economic conditions that can help or hinder these policies' effectiveness.The objective of this study was to provide a cost calculation of health effects associated with events related to climate change over the past

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Climate Change–Related Events In The United States Accounted For About $14 Billion In Lost Lives And Health Costs

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The city of Philadelphia has a particularly elaborate set of interven-tion plans, and recent research has suggested that many lives have already been saved as a result (Ebi et al 2004;Kalkstein et al 1996b). For example, when an excessive heat warning is issued in Philadelphia, the following steps are taken: media announcements of the warning, a "buddy system" goes into effect where volunteers check on the elderly, a telephone hotline called the "Heatline" is activated, the Department of Public Health makes home visits to susceptible portions of the population, utility suspension is halted, medical service staff are increased, outreach for the homeless increases, and designated airconditioned facilities are opened for the public (Kalkstein et al 1996b).…”

Section: Heat Warning Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social impacts of the heat–health watch/warning system in Phoenix, Arizona: assessing the perceived risk and response of the public

2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States. Although previous research suggests that social influences affect human responses to natural disaster warnings, no studies have examined the social impacts of heat or heat warnings on a population. Here, 201 surveys were distributed in Metropolitan Phoenix to determine the social impacts of the heat warning system, or more specifically, to gauge risk perception and warning response. Consistent with previous research, increased risk perception of heat results in increased response to a warning. Different social factors such as sex, race, age, and income all play an important role in determining whether or not people will respond to a warning. In particular, there is a strong sense of perceived risk to the heat among Hispanics which translates to increased response when heat warnings are issued. Based on these findings, suggestions are presented to help improve the Phoenix Heat Warning System.

show abstract

“…These data are derived from files at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS, 2000), and are standardized to remove as much variation on mortality as possible that is related to non-meteorological causes, such as trends in population during the period of evaluation. Total deaths per day are evaluated in this analysis, as this has been shown to be superior to subdividing deaths into individual causes (Ebi et al, 2004). Daily human mortality can be compared to daily temperature or apparent temperature values, and a threshold temperature can be determined: the value for daily human mortality can be compared with a range of temperature-related variables in order to determine the one that displays the closest correlation with mortality in the observed record.…”

Section: Projected Impacts On Heat-related Human Mortalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Health-Related Impacts of Climate Change inCalifornia

Drechsler¹,

Motallebi²,

Kleeman³

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heat Watch/Warning Systems Save Lives: Estimated Costs and Benefits for Philadelphia 1995–98

Cited by 273 publications

References 14 publications

Six Climate Change–Related Events In The United States Accounted For About $14 Billion In Lost Lives And Health Costs

Six Climate Change–Related Events In The United States Accounted For About $14 Billion In Lost Lives And Health Costs

The social impacts of the heat–health watch/warning system in Phoenix, Arizona: assessing the perceived risk and response of the public

Public Health-Related Impacts of Climate Change inCalifornia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About