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Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future
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Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 14553

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nir Krakauer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Civil Engineering and NOAA-CESSRST, City College of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA
2. Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York Graduate Center, New York, NY 10017, USA
Interests: climate change; water resources planning; groundwater; land-atmosphere interaction; sustainable agriculture; urban ecological design; carbon cycle monitoring; renewable energy resource assessment; probabilistic forecasting; data assimilation; model uncertainty assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Heat is already the leading cause of weather-related deaths worldwide, and heat waves are generally worsening as a result of anthropogenic global warming. Heat extremes are affected by many physical factors, notably land use and land cover. Heat impacts on health also depend on many aspects of socioeconomic organization and service provision, including health care systems. Factors such as social class, age, gender, and ethnicity can all define differential vulnerability to heat.

This Special Issue is broadly open to submissions on topics relating to heat impacts on health. Studies may focus on, for example, physical drivers of extreme heat as it affects health, climatic determinants of health impacts (e.g., temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar, and thermal radiation balances), trends in heat impacts by economic sector, and measures to ameliorate heat-related morbidity and mortality. Cultural and technological coping mechanisms such as passive cooling, solar cooling, limiting outdoor activity, and air conditioning may also be featured. The work may be transnational/global in scale, or it may concentrate on specific areas or populations.

Dr. Nir Krakauer
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • Heat waves
  • Heat stress
  • Heatstroke
  • Temperature
  • Humidity
  • Epidemiology
  • Community health
  • Global warming
  • Climate vulnerability
  • Green infrastructure

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 11263 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Distribution of Heatwave Hazards in the Chinese Mainland for the Period 1990–2019
by Wei Wu, Qingsheng Liu, He Li and Chong Huang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1532; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021532 - 14 Jan 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2082
Abstract
Heatwaves occur frequently in summer, severely harming the natural environment and human society. While a few long-term spatiotemporal heatwave studies have been conducted in China at the grid scale, their shortcomings involve their discrete distribution and poor spatiotemporal continuity. We used daily data [...] Read more.
Heatwaves occur frequently in summer, severely harming the natural environment and human society. While a few long-term spatiotemporal heatwave studies have been conducted in China at the grid scale, their shortcomings involve their discrete distribution and poor spatiotemporal continuity. We used daily data from 691 meteorological stations to obtain torridity index (TI) and heatwave index (HWI) datasets (0.01°) in order to evaluate the spatiotemporal distribution of heatwaves in the Chinese mainland for the period of 1990–2019. The results were as follows: (1) The TI values rose but with fluctuations, with the largest increase occurring in North China in July. The areas with hazard levels of medium and above accounted for 22.16% of the total, mainly in the eastern and southern provinces of China, South Tibet, East and South Xinjiang, and Chongqing. (2) The study areas were divided into four categories according to the spatiotemporal distribution of hazards. The “high hazard and rapidly increasing” and “low hazard and continually increasing” areas accounted for 8.71% and 41.33% of the total, respectively. (3) The “ten furnaces” at the top of the provincial capitals were Zhengzhou, Nanchang, Wuhan, Changsha, Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Haikou, Chongqing, and Hefei. While the urbanization level and population aging in the developed areas were further increased, the continuously increasing heatwave hazard should be fully considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future)
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18 pages, 3700 KiB  
Article
Recent Climatology (1991–2020) and Trends in Local Warm and Cold Season Extreme Temperature Days and Nights in Arabia
by Ali S. Alghamdi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 2506; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052506 - 22 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1886
Abstract
The Arabian Peninsula (Arabia) is among the places to have experienced the greatest amount of warming during recent decades, and this trend is projected to continue. Specifics related to the characteristics (frequency, duration, and intensity) of extreme temperature events (ETEs) over Arabia as [...] Read more.
The Arabian Peninsula (Arabia) is among the places to have experienced the greatest amount of warming during recent decades, and this trend is projected to continue. Specifics related to the characteristics (frequency, duration, and intensity) of extreme temperature events (ETEs) over Arabia as a whole are either largely outdated or limited only to specific areas. The seasonal ETE definitions commonly used in local studies are neither climatological- nor phenomenon-based. Using a novel and straightforward framework, the seasons of four extreme temperature types (extreme warm days/nights (EWDs/EWNs) and extreme cold days/nights (ECDs/ECNs)) were identified on the simultaneous basis of event occurrence and impact times. Assessments of ETE frequency, duration, and intensity and their recent changes were then provided based on the most recent climate data (1991–2020). Results showed that the use of traditional seasonal definitions (e.g., meteorological seasons) tends to assume a spatiotemporal homogeneity in the seasonality of ETEs and their potential risk levels throughout the year. The developed framework distinguished months with events that have larger potential impacts together with their local seasons. ETE seasons were found to vary at the regional and local scales and are better defined at both the local and phenomenon levels. Early extreme warm events were hotter, and those at locations with longer local warm seasons demonstrated higher intensities. ECDs tended to be more frequent at coastal locations, whereas ECNs were more frequent over southwestern Arabia. Early and late extreme cold events were much colder than those occurring mid-season. Trend analyses revealed generally increasing regional trends in the frequency of extreme warm events, whereas extreme cold events have declined. The duration (i.e., consecutive occurrences) and intensity of EWNs have been increasing at more locations, suggesting that urgent attention is needed within such an arid and hot climate type in which nighttime stress relief is already very limited. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future)
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10 pages, 1533 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Heatwaves on Human Morbidity in Primary Care Settings: A Case-Crossover Study
by Mahmoud Alsaiqali, Katrien De Troeyer, Lidia Casas, Rafiq Hamdi, Christel Faes and Gijs Van Pottelbergh
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(2), 832; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020832 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2619
Abstract
Purpose: This study assesses the potential acute effects of heatwaves on human morbidities in primary care settings. Methods: We performed a time-stratified case-crossover study to assess the acute effects of heatwaves on selected morbidities in primary care settings in Flanders, Belgium, between 2000 [...] Read more.
Purpose: This study assesses the potential acute effects of heatwaves on human morbidities in primary care settings. Methods: We performed a time-stratified case-crossover study to assess the acute effects of heatwaves on selected morbidities in primary care settings in Flanders, Belgium, between 2000 and 2015. We used conditional logistic regression models. We assessed the effect of heatwaves on the day of the event (lag 0) and X days earlier (lags 1 to X). The associations are presented as Incidence Density Ratios (IDR). Results: We included 22,344 events. Heatwaves are associated with increased heat-related morbidities such as heat stroke IDR 3.93 [2.94–5.26] at lag 0, dehydration IDR 3.93 [2.94–5.26] at lag 1, and orthostatic hypotension IDR 2.06 [1.37–3.10] at lag 1. For cardiovascular morbidities studied, there was only an increased risk of stroke at lag 3 IDR 1.45 [1.04–2.03]. There is no significant association with myocardial ischemia/infarction or arrhythmia. Heatwaves are associated with decreased respiratory infection risk. The IDR for upper respiratory infections is 0.82 [0.78–0.87] lag 1 and lower respiratory infections (LRI) is 0.82 [0.74–0.91] at lag 1. There was no significant effect modification by age or premorbid chronic disease (diabetes, hypertesnsion). Conclusion: Heatwaves are associated with increased heat-related morbidities and decreased respiratory infection risk. The study of heatwaves’ effects in primary care settings helps evaluate the impact of heatwaves on the general population. Primary care settings might be not suitable to study acute life-threatening morbidities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future)
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12 pages, 2399 KiB  
Article
A Low-Cost, Easy-to-Assemble Device to Prevent Infant Hyperthermia under Conditions of High Thermal Stress
by Ramon Farré, Miguel A. Rodríguez-Lázaro, Anh Tuan Dinh-Xuan, Martí Pons-Odena, Daniel Navajas and David Gozal
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(24), 13382; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413382 - 19 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2876
Abstract
High ambient temperature and humidity greatly increase the risk of hyperthermia and mortality, particularly in infants, who are especially prone to dehydration. World areas at high risk of heat stress include many of the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where most of their [...] Read more.
High ambient temperature and humidity greatly increase the risk of hyperthermia and mortality, particularly in infants, who are especially prone to dehydration. World areas at high risk of heat stress include many of the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where most of their inhabitants have no access to air conditioning. This study aimed to design, evaluate, and test a novel low-cost and easy-to-assemble device aimed at preventing the risk of infant hyperthermia in LMICs. The device is based on optimizing negative heat transfer from a small amount of ice and transferring it directly to the infant by airflow of refrigerated air. As a proof of concept, a device was assembled mainly using recycled materials, and its performance was assessed under laboratory-controlled conditions in a climatic chamber mimicking realistic stress conditions of high temperature and humidity. The device, which can be assembled by any layperson using easily available materials, provided sufficient refrigerating capacity for several hours from just 1–2 kg of ice obtained from a domestic freezer. Thus, application of this novel device may serve to attenuate the adverse effects of heat stress in infants, particularly in the context of the evolving climatic change trends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future)
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12 pages, 7283 KiB  
Article
The Mortality Effect of Apparent Temperature: A Multi-City Study in Asia
by Ru Cao, Yuxin Wang, Jing Huang, Jie He, Pitakchon Ponsawansong, Jianbo Jin, Zhihu Xu, Teng Yang, Xiaochuan Pan, Tippawan Prapamontol and Guoxing Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(9), 4675; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094675 - 28 Apr 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3514
Abstract
(1) Background: The health effect of temperature has become a rising public health topic. The objective of this study is to assess the association between apparent temperature and non-accidental deaths, and the mortality burden attributed to cold and heat temperature; (2) Methods: The [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The health effect of temperature has become a rising public health topic. The objective of this study is to assess the association between apparent temperature and non-accidental deaths, and the mortality burden attributed to cold and heat temperature; (2) Methods: The daily data on temperature and deaths were collected from 10 cities in Thailand, Korea and China. We fitted a time-series regression with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to derive the health risk of temperature for each city and then pooled them to get the overall cumulative risk by multivariate meta-analysis. Additionally, we calculated the attributable fraction of deaths for heat and cold, which was defined as temperatures above and below minimum-mortality temperature (MMT); (3) Results: There are regional heterogeneities in the minimum mortality percentiles (MMP) and attributable fractions for different countries. The MMP varied from about the 5–10th percentile in Thailand to 63–93rd percentile in China and Korea. The attributable fractions of the total deaths due to short-term exposure to temperature in Asia is 7.62%, of which the cold effect (6.44%) is much higher than the heat effect (1.18%); (4) Conclusions: Our study suggested that apparent temperature was associated with an increase in non-accidental mortality. Most of the temperature-related mortality burden was attributable to cold, except for Thailand. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Changes in Heatwaves–Past, Present and Future)
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