The Summer 2019-2020 Wildfires in East Coast Australia and Their Impacts on Air Quality and Health in New South Wales, Australia

H., Duc; Azzi, Merched; White, Stephen; Salter, David; Trieu, Toan; Morgan, Geoffrey G.; Rahman, Mahmudur; Watt, Sean; Riley, Matthew; Cnang, Lisa Tzu-Chi; Barthelemy, Xavier; Fuchs, David; Lieschke, Kaitlyn J.; Nguyen, Huynh Mai

doi:10.20944/preprints202103.0243.v1

Cited by 12 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…The importance of, and effect from, cumulative natural disasters associated with climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], 2021) – severe bushfires, drought, flooding, and the COVID-19 pandemic – cannot be underestimated. For example, on the eastern coast of Australia, where the current study took place, approximately 80% of the population was affected by the 2019−2020 bushfires in some way (Nguyen et al, 2021). COVID-19, with its mandatory lockdowns, has led worldwide to an increase in domestic violence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol and α-amylase awakening response in children and adolescents with functional neurological (conversion) disorder

Chung

Mukerji

Kozlowska

2022

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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Objective: Stress system dysregulation is considered to have an important role in the aetiology of paediatric functional neurological (conversion) disorder. This study examined salivary cortisol and α-amylase awakening responses in children with functional neurological disorder to determine activation patterns of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and sympathetic system. A healthy cortisol awakening response involves a robust increase in cortisol within 30 minutes of awakening. Alpha-amylase awakening response is variable in children. Methods: Cortisol and α-amylase were measured in saliva from 32 patients with functional neurological disorder (26 girls and 6 boys, aged 11.3−16.1 years) and 31 healthy controls (23 girls and 8 boys, aged 8.6–17.7 years). Saliva samples were collected using a Salivette sampling device at two time points – upon awakening and 30 minutes after awakening. Results: Patients with functional neurological disorder showed a decrease in cortisol awakening response (–4 nmol.min/L) and controls showed an increase (107 nmol.min/L), t(55) = –.4.6, p < 0.001. Within the functional neurological disorder group, 57% showed an attenuated cortisol awakening response and 43% showed an obliterated/reversed cortisol awakening response: Cortisol awakening response was negatively correlated with adverse childhood experiences, r(58) = –0.6, p = 0.002, and subjective distress (total Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales score), r(58) = –0.4, p = 0.050. In controls, cortisol awakening response showed no correlation with adverse childhood experiences and a positive correlation with subjective distress, r(56) = 0.4, p = 0.023. Total cortisol remained similar between the functional neurological disorder and control group. No significant differences were observed between the functional neurological disorder and control group in any of the α-amylase analyses. Discussion: The results suggest dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in children with functional neurological disorder. Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal dysregulation in children with functional neurological disorder may contribute to comorbid symptoms of fatigue, sleep disturbance and subjective loss of well-being because circadian rhythms and energy metabolism are disrupted. Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal dysregulation – and changes in glucocorticoid (cortisol) signalling at the molecular level – may also contribute to increased vulnerability for functional neurological disorder symptoms because of epigenetically mediated changes to neural networks implicated in functional neurological disorder.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol and α-amylase awakening response in children and adolescents with functional neurological (conversion) disorder

Chung

Mukerji

Kozlowska

2022

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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Australian Bushfires (2019–2020): Aerosol Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing

Papanikolaou

Kokkalis²,

Σουπιωνά³

et al. 2022

Atmosphere

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In the present study, we present the aerosol optical properties and radiative forcing (RF) of the tropospheric and stratospheric smoke layers, observed by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite, during the extraordinary Australian biomass burning (BB) event in 2019–2020. These BB layers were studied and analyzed within the longitude range 140° E–20° W and the latitude band 20°–60° S, as they were gradually transported from the Australian banks to the South American continent. These layers were found to be trapped within the Andes circulation, staying for longer time periods in the same longitude region. The BB aerosols reached altitudes even up to 22 km amsl., and regarding their optical properties, they were found to be nearly spherical (particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR) < 0.10) in the troposphere; while, in the stratosphere, they were more depolarizing with PLDR values reaching up to 0.20. Fine and ultrafine smoke particles were dominant in the stratosphere, according to the observed Ångström exponent, related to the backscatter coefficients obtained by the pair of wavelengths 532 and 1064 nm (Åb up to 3), in contrast to the Åb values in the troposphere (Åb < 1) indicative of the presence of coarser particles. As the aerosols fend off the source, towards North America, a slightly descending trend was observed in the tropospheric Åb values, while the stratospheric ones were lightly increased. A maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) value of 0.54 was recorded in the lower troposphere over the fire spots, while, in the stratosphere, AOD values up to 0.29 were observed. Sharp changes of carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3) concentrations were also recorded by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) in various atmospheric heights over the study region, associated with fire smoke emissions. The tropospheric smoke layers were found to have a negative mean radiative effect, ranging from −12.83 W/m2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), to −32.22 W/m2 on the surface (SRF), while the radiative effect of the stratospheric smoke was estimated between −7.36 at the TOA to −18.51 W/m2 at the SRF.

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Black Carbon Emissions, Transport and Effect on Radiation Forcing Modelling during the Summer 2019–2020 Wildfires in Southeast Australia

Azzi

Zhang

et al. 2023

Atmosphere

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The emission of black carbon (BC) particles, which cause atmospheric warming by affecting radiation budget in the atmosphere, is the result of an incomplete combustion process of organic materials. The recent wildfire event during the summer 2019–2020 in south-eastern Australia was unprecedented in scale. The wildfires lasted for nearly 3 months over large areas of the two most populated states of New South Wales and Victoria. This study on the emission and dispersion of BC emitted from the biomass burnings of the wildfires using the Weather Research Forecast–Chemistry (WRF–Chem) model aims to determine the extent of BC spatial dispersion and ground concentration distribution and the effect of BC on air quality and radiative transfer at the top of the atmosphere, the atmosphere and on the ground. The predicted aerosol concentration and AOD are compared with the observed data using the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) aethalometer and air quality network and remote sensing data. The BC concentration as predicted from the WRF–Chem model, is in general, less than the observed data as measured using the aethalometer monitoring network, but the spatial pattern corresponds well, and the correlation is relatively high. The total BC emission into the atmosphere during the event and the effect on radiation budget were also estimated. This study shows that the summer 2019–2020 wildfires affect not only the air quality and health impact on the east coast of Australia but also short-term weather in the region via aerosol interactions with radiation and clouds.

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The Summer 2019-2020 Wildfires in East Coast Australia and Their Impacts on Air Quality and Health in New South Wales, Australia

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

Cortisol and α-amylase awakening response in children and adolescents with functional neurological (conversion) disorder

Cortisol and α-amylase awakening response in children and adolescents with functional neurological (conversion) disorder

Australian Bushfires (2019–2020): Aerosol Optical Properties and Radiative Forcing

Black Carbon Emissions, Transport and Effect on Radiation Forcing Modelling during the Summer 2019–2020 Wildfires in Southeast Australia

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