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Heat-Health Warnings: Bridging the Gap between Heat Forecasts and Efficient Warning Systems

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 (4 April 2023) | Viewed by 12316

Special Issue Editors

Meteorology Group, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of Cantabria, 39005 Santander, Spain
Interests: heat waves; climate indices; atmospheric indices; climate change; downscaling methods
Institute of BioEconomy—National Research Council, 50019 Florence, Italy
Interests: biometeorology; biometeorological forecasts; Impact of weather and climate on human health and ecosystems; thermal comfort; microclimate; urban climate; heat waves; heat health warning systems
Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Zurich, Switzerland
Interests: heat-health warnings; heat indices; heat waves; climate change and health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental conditions inevitably affect human health and biodiversity. Hot conditions cause human discomfort and heat-induced illnesses, and they are significantly associated with the mortality of more susceptible population subgroups. These effects intensify under hot and humid environments. The continuous increase of air surface temperature and especially record-breaking heat waves such as those in summers 2003 and 2010 in Europe has motivated the rapid development of adaptation strategies, such as the improvement of heat–health warning systems. Such warning systems attempt to protect the population against environmental heat by means of a whole chain of various components: the meteorological forecast system, the metric(s) used to quantify heat conditions, the thresholds triggering the warnings, the implementation of intervention strategies, the communication of the warnings, and the evaluation and periodical revision of the whole system. The final aim of these elements is to take timely and effective actions based on a robust and reliable system, which is essential today in the era of meteorological and climate services. The Special Issue aims at covering the state-of-the-art in both the monitoring and forecasting of heat warnings as well as the development of effective and well-coordinated operative warning systems. Different time scales (i.e., from short- to mid- and long-range forecasts) pose different needs and challenges to the abovementioned components of heat–heath warning systems. Thus, contributions and reviews focusing on heat–health warnings for the general public as well as user-tailored warnings (e.g., occupational exposures) and considering a variety of time scales are welcome.

This Special Issue will provide readers with up-to-date information on heat–health warning systems, linking perspectives from heat forecasts to improved prevention and adaptation measures.

Dr. Ana Casanueva
Dr. Marco Morabito
Mrs. Annkatrin Burgstall
Guest Editors

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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Heat–health warnings
  • Heat–health action plans
  • Heat stress, forecasting
  • Climate services

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 7068 KiB  
Article
Towards a Generic Residential Building Model for Heat–Health Warning Systems
by Jens Pfafferott, Sascha Rißmann, Guido Halbig, Franz Schröder and Sascha Saad
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(24), 13050; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182413050 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1967
Abstract
A strong heat load in buildings and cities during the summer is not a new phenomenon. However, prolonged heat waves and increasing urbanization are intensifying the heat island effect in our cities; hence, the heat exposure in residential buildings. The thermophysiological load in [...] Read more.
A strong heat load in buildings and cities during the summer is not a new phenomenon. However, prolonged heat waves and increasing urbanization are intensifying the heat island effect in our cities; hence, the heat exposure in residential buildings. The thermophysiological load in the interior and exterior environments can be reduced in the medium and long term, through urban planning and building physics measures. In the short term, an increasingly vulnerable population must be effectively informed of an impending heat wave. Building simulation models can be favorably used to evaluate indoor heat stress. This study presents a generic simulation model, developed from monitoring data in urban multi-unit residential buildings during a summer period and using statistical methods. The model determines both the average room temperature and its deviations and, thus, consists of three sub-models: cool, average, and warm building types. The simulation model is based on the same mathematical algorithm, whereas each building type is described by a specific data set, concerning its building physical parameters and user behavior, respectively. The generic building model may be used in urban climate analyses with many individual buildings distributed across the city or in heat–health warning systems, with different building and user types distributed across a region. An urban climate analysis (with weather data from a database) may evaluate local differences in urban and indoor climate, whereas heat–health warning systems (driven by a weather forecast) obtain additional information on indoor heat stress and its expected deviations. Full article
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26 pages, 10454 KiB  
Article
ClimApp—Integrating Personal Factors with Weather Forecasts for Individualised Warning and Guidance on Thermal Stress
by B. R. M. Kingma, H. Steenhoff, J. Toftum, H. A. M. Daanen, M. A. Folkerts, N. Gerrett, C. Gao, K. Kuklane, J. Petersson, A. Halder, M. Zuurbier, S. W. Garland and L. Nybo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11317; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182111317 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2620
Abstract
This paper describes the functional development of the ClimApp tool (available for free on iOS and Android devices), which combines current and 24 h weather forecasting with individual information to offer personalised guidance related to thermal exposure. Heat and cold stress assessments are [...] Read more.
This paper describes the functional development of the ClimApp tool (available for free on iOS and Android devices), which combines current and 24 h weather forecasting with individual information to offer personalised guidance related to thermal exposure. Heat and cold stress assessments are based on ISO standards and thermal models where environmental settings and personal factors are integrated into the ClimApp index ranging from −4 (extremely cold) to +4 (extremely hot), while a range of −1 and +1 signifies low thermal stress. Advice for individuals or for groups is available, and the user can customise the model input according to their personal situation, including activity level, clothing, body characteristics, heat acclimatisation, indoor or outdoor situation, and geographical location. ClimApp output consists of a weather summary, a brief assessment of the thermal situation, and a thermal stress warning. Advice is provided via infographics and text depending on the user profile. ClimApp is available in 10 languages: English, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Hellenic (Greek), Italian, German, Spanish and French. The tool also includes a research functionality providing a platform for worker and citizen science projects to collect individual data on physical thermal strain and the experienced thermal strain. The application may therefore improve the translation of heat and cold risk assessments and guidance for subpopulations. ClimApp provides the framework for personalising and downscaling weather reports, alerts and advice at the personal level, based on GPS location and adjustable input of individual factors. Full article
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20 pages, 1570 KiB  
Article
Performances of Limited Area Models for the WORKLIMATE Heat–Health Warning System to Protect Worker’s Health and Productivity in Italy
by Daniele Grifoni, Alessandro Messeri, Alfonso Crisci, Michela Bonafede, Francesco Pasi, Bernardo Gozzini, Simone Orlandini, Alessandro Marinaccio, Riccardo Mari, Marco Morabito and on behalf of the WORKLIMATE Collaborative Group
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9940; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18189940 - 21 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2392
Abstract
Outdoor workers are particularly exposed to climate conditions, and in particular, the increase of environmental temperature directly affects their health and productivity. For these reasons, in recent years, heat-health warning systems have been developed for workers generally using heat stress indicators obtained by [...] Read more.
Outdoor workers are particularly exposed to climate conditions, and in particular, the increase of environmental temperature directly affects their health and productivity. For these reasons, in recent years, heat-health warning systems have been developed for workers generally using heat stress indicators obtained by the combination of meteorological parameters to describe the thermal stress induced by the outdoor environment on the human body. There are several studies on the verification of the parameters predicted by meteorological models, but very few relating to the validation of heat stress indicators. This study aims to verify the performance of two limited area models, with different spatial resolution, potentially applicable in the occupational heat health warning system developed within the WORKLIMATE project for the Italian territory. A comparison between the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature predicted by the models and that obtained by data from 28 weather stations was carried out over about three summer seasons in different daily time slots, using the most common skill of performance. The two meteorological models were overall comparable for much of the Italian explored territory, while major limits have emerged in areas with complex topography. This study demonstrated the applicability of limited area models in occupational heat health warning systems. Full article
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21 pages, 4510 KiB  
Article
Selecting Thresholds of Heat-Warning Systems with Substantial Enhancement of Essential Population Health Outcomes for Facilitating Implementation
by Shih-Chun Candice Lung, Jou-Chen Joy Yeh and Jing-Shiang Hwang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9506; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18189506 - 09 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2070
Abstract
Most heat-health studies identified thresholds just outside human comfort zones, which are often too low to be used in heat-warning systems for reducing climate-related health risks. We refined a generalized additive model for selecting thresholds with substantial health risk enhancement, based on Taiwan [...] Read more.
Most heat-health studies identified thresholds just outside human comfort zones, which are often too low to be used in heat-warning systems for reducing climate-related health risks. We refined a generalized additive model for selecting thresholds with substantial health risk enhancement, based on Taiwan population records of 2000–2017, considering lag effects and different spatial scales. Reference-adjusted risk ratio (RaRR) is proposed, defined as the ratio between the relative risk of an essential health outcome for a threshold candidate against that for a reference; the threshold with the highest RaRR is potentially the optimal one. It was found that the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is a more sensitive heat-health indicator than temperature. At lag 0, the highest RaRR (1.66) with WBGT occurred in emergency visits of children, while that in hospital visits occurred for the working-age group (1.19), presumably due to high exposure while engaging in outdoor activities. For most sex, age, and sub-region categories, the RaRRs of emergency visits were higher than those of hospital visits and all-cause mortality; thus, emergency visits should be employed (if available) to select heat-warning thresholds. This work demonstrates the applicability of this method to facilitate the establishment of heat-warning systems at city or country scales by authorities worldwide. Full article
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16 pages, 3024 KiB  
Article
Steps Towards Comprehensive Heat Communication in the Frame of a Heat Health Warning System in Slovenia
by Tjaša Pogačar, Zala Žnidaršič, Lučka Kajfež Bogataj and Zalika Črepinšek
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5829; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17165829 - 12 Aug 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2257
Abstract
Occupational heat stress has an important negative impact on the well-being, health and productivity of workers and should; therefore, be recognized as a public health issue in Europe. There is no comprehensive heat health warning system in Slovenia combining public health measures with [...] Read more.
Occupational heat stress has an important negative impact on the well-being, health and productivity of workers and should; therefore, be recognized as a public health issue in Europe. There is no comprehensive heat health warning system in Slovenia combining public health measures with meteorological forecasts. The aim of this research was to provide insight into the development of such a system in Slovenia, turning the communication from the current meteoalarm into a broader system that has more information for different social groups. To achieve this goal, the following steps were used: Analysis of summer temperatures and issued meteoalarms, a survey of the general knowledge about heat among the public, organization and management of two stakeholder symposia, and a final survey on workers’ opinions on heat stress and measures, supplemented by interviews with employers. Summer average daily temperature distributions in Slovenia changed during the investigated period (1961–2019) and the mean values increased over time by 2–3 °C. Additionally, the number of days with fulfilled yellow (potentially dangerous) and especially orange (dangerous) meteoalarm conditions increased significantly after 1990. The survey of the general public about heat stress and warnings showed that efforts to raise awareness of heat issues need to be intensified and that public health measures should effectively target vulnerable groups. Stakeholder symposia and further surveys have shown that awareness and understanding of the negative effects of heat stress on health and productivity are still quite low, so effective ways of disseminating information to different sectors while striking the best balance between efficiency, feasibility and economic cost have to be found. Full article
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