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Abstract
One of the currently promoted methods of counteracting climate change is nature-based climate solutions, which harness the power of nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable management of ecosystems is a guarantee for sustained human well-being. This underestimated, but extremely efficient and cheap method of integrating nature resources into the urban fabric is an economic “injection” for communal authorities. These “green” benefits should be standard in land-use planning in the era of anthropocentrism. Solutions based on nature were the reason for investigating their perception by Polish municipalities. The survey covered the entire country (all 2477 municipalities) from 20 July to 31 August 2021 through an electronic survey, obtaining 2128 responses (85.9% return rate). In the final result, data were obtained that support the hypotheses posed in the study. The main objective of the research was to check the level of activity of municipalities in Poland in the field of proecological activities using nature-based solutions (NbS). The survey results confirmed little knowledge of nature-based solutions, at the same time giving it an educational dimension. Half of the respondents declared that they learned about NbS only from the survey. Polish decision makers and municipal authorities introduce some solutions based on nature without being aware of their European classification and adequate nomenclature. Environmental awareness in Poland remains largely the domain of urban municipalities, with higher current budget revenues per capita and in the central and western parts of the country. NbS are marginal in rural municipalities, which can be explained by the lack of ecological specialists, less car traffic and more single-family houses and thus modest public areas. The following surveys covering the entire territory of Poland are the first to be carried out on such a large scale.
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Bein T, Karagiannidis C, Quintel M. Climate change, global warming, and intensive care. Intensive Care Med 2019; 46:485-487. [PMID: 31820033 PMCID: PMC7095172 DOI: 10.1007/s00134-019-05888-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Bein
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Regensburg, 93042, Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Christian Karagiannidis
- Department of Pneumology and Critical Care Medicine, Cologne Merheim Hospital, ARDS and ECMO Centre, Kliniken der Stadt Köln, Witten/Herdecke University Hospital, 51109, Cologne, Germany
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Dehghani M, Asghari M, Ismail AF, Mohammadi AH. Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation of the structural properties, diffusion and adsorption of poly (amide-6-b-ethylene oxide)/Faujasite mixed matrix membranes. J Mol Liq 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2017.07.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Yang L, da Rocha SRP. Understanding Solvation in the Low Global Warming Hydrofluoroolefin HFO-1234ze Propellant. J Phys Chem B 2014; 118:10675-87. [DOI: 10.1021/jp5059319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lin Yang
- Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, College of Engineering, Wayne State University, 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive, Detroit, Michigan 48202, United States
| | - Sandro R. P. da Rocha
- Department of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, College of Engineering, Wayne State University, 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive, Detroit, Michigan 48202, United States
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Pinkerton KE, Rom WN, Akpinar-Elci M, Balmes JR, Bayram H, Brandli O, Hollingsworth JW, Kinney PL, Margolis HG, Martin WJ, Sasser EN, Smith KR, Takaro TK. An official American Thoracic Society workshop report: Climate change and human health. PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY 2012; 9:3-8. [PMID: 22421581 PMCID: PMC5821002 DOI: 10.1513/pats.201201-015st] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
This document presents the proceedings from the American Thoracic Society Climate Change and Respiratory Health Workshop that was held on May 15, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose of the one-day meeting was to address the threat to global respiratory health posed by climate change. Domestic and international experts as well as representatives of international respiratory societies and key U.S. federal agencies convened to identify necessary research questions concerning climate change and respiratory health and appropriate mechanisms and infrastructure needs for answering these questions. After much discussion, a breakout group compiled 27 recommendations for physicians, researchers, and policy makers. These recommendations are listed under main issues that the workshop participants deemed of key importance to respiratory health. Issues include the following: (1) the health impacts of climate change, with specific focus on the effect of heat waves, air pollution, and natural cycles; (2) mitigation and adaptation measures to be taken, with special emphasis on recommendations for the clinical and research community; (3) recognition of challenges specific to low-resource countries when coping with respiratory health and climate change; and (4) priority research infrastructure needs, with special discussion of international needs for cooperating with present and future environmental monitoring and alert systems.
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Datta K, Bartlett KH, Marr KA. Cryptococcus gattii: Emergence in Western North America: Exploitation of a Novel Ecological Niche. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis 2009; 2009:176532. [PMID: 19266091 PMCID: PMC2648661 DOI: 10.1155/2009/176532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2008] [Accepted: 11/17/2008] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The relatively uncommon fungal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii recently emerged as a significant cause of cryptococcal disease in human and animals in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Although genetic studies indicated its possible presence in the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years, C. gattii as an etiological agent was largely unknown in this region prior to 1999. The recent emergence may have been encouraged by changing conditions of climate or land use and/or host susceptibility, and predictive ecological niche modeling indicates a potentially wider spread. C. gattii can survive wide climatic variations and colonize the environment in tropical, subtropical, temperate, and dry climates. Long-term climate changes, such as the significantly elevated global temperature in the last 100 years, influence patterns of disease among plants and animals and create niche microclimates habitable by emerging pathogens. C. gattii may have exploited such a hitherto unrecognized but clement environment in the Pacific Northwest to provide a wider exposure and risk of infection to human and animal populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kausik Datta
- School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 720 Rutland Avenue, Room 1064, Ross Building, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Karen H. Bartlett
- School of Environmental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3
| | - Kieren A. Marr
- School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 720 Rutland Avenue, Room 1064, Ross Building, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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Joh RI, Wang H, Weiss H, Weitz JS. Dynamics of indirectly transmitted infectious diseases with immunological threshold. Bull Math Biol 2008; 71:845-62. [PMID: 19096894 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-008-9384-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2008] [Accepted: 12/02/2008] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
There are numerous examples of human pathogens which persist in environmental reservoirs while infectious outbreaks remain rare. In this manuscript, we consider the dynamics of infectious diseases for which the primary mode of transmission is indirect and mediated by contact with a contaminated reservoir. We evaluate the realistic scenario in which the number of ingested pathogens must be above a critical threshold to cause infection in susceptible individuals. This minimal infectious dose is a consequence of the clearance effect of the innate immune system. Infected individuals shed pathogens back into the aquatic reservoir, indirectly increasing the transmittability of the pathogen to the susceptible. Building upon prior works in the study of cholera dynamics, we introduce and analyze a family of reservoir mediated SIR models with a threshold pathogen density for infection. Analyzing this family of models, we show that an outbreak can result from noninfinitesimal introductions of either infected individuals or additional pathogens in the reservoir. We devise two new measures of how likely it is that an environmentally persistent pathogen will cause an outbreak: (i) the minimum fraction of infected individuals; and (ii) the minimum fluctuation size of in-reservoir pathogens. We find an additional control parameter involving the shedding rate of infected individuals, which we term the pathogen enhancement ratio, which determines whether outbreaks lead to epidemics or endemic disease states. Thus, the ultimate outcome of disease is controlled by the strength of fluctuations and the global stability of a nonlinear dynamical system, as opposed to conventional analysis in which disease reflects the linear destabilization of a disease free equilibrium. Our model predicts that in the case of waterborne diseases, suppressing the pathogen density in aquatic reservoirs may be more effective than minimizing the number of infected individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard I Joh
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
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Rom WN, Pinkerton KE, Martin WJ, Forastiere F. Global warming: a challenge to all American Thoracic Society members. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2008; 177:1053-4. [PMID: 18460457 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200801-052ed] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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Schwartz BS, Parker C, Glass TA, Hu H. Global environmental change: what can health care providers and the environmental health community do about it now? ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2006; 114:1807-12. [PMID: 17185267 PMCID: PMC1764173 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.9313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The debate about whether global environmental change is real is now over; in its wake is the realization that it is happening more rapidly than predicted. These changes constitute a profound challenge to human health, both as a direct threat and as a promoter of other risks. We call on health care providers to inform themselves about these issues and to become agents of change in their communities. It is our responsibility as clinicians to educate patients and their communities on the connections between regressive policies, unsustainable behaviors, global environmental changes, and threats to health and security. We call on professional organizations to assist in educating their members about these issues, in helping clinicians practice behavior change with their patients, and in adding their voices to this issue in our statehouses and Congress. We call for the development of carbon and other environmental-labeling of consumer products so individuals can make informed choices; we also call for the rapid implementation of policies that provide tangible economic incentives for choosing environmentally sustainable products and services. We urge the environmental health community to take up the challenge of developing a global environmental health index that will incorporate human health into available "planetary health" metrics and that can be used as a policy tool to evaluate the impact of interventions and document spatial and temporal shifts in the healthfulness of local areas. Finally, we urge our political, business, public health, and academic leaders to heed these environmental warnings and quickly develop regulatory and policy solutions so that the health of populations and the integrity of their environments will be ensured for future generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian S Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES To determine whether weather conditions affect emergency department (ED) attendance and admissions from the ED. DESIGN AND SETTING A retrospective observational study in a large metropolitan ED. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ED attendance (total and via ambulance) and admissions to hospital from ED, as a function of weather variables. RESULTS On warm, dry, sunny and good weather days there were significantly more ED attendances in total than there were on cool, rainy, dull and bad weather days, respectively (P < or = 0.001). There were significant correlations between ED attendance and temperature (r = 0.36, P < 0.001), rainfall (r = - 0.20, P < 0.001) and hours of sunshine (r = 0.17, P = 0.001). Attendance via ambulance was not affected by weather variables. Admissions from the ED were positively correlated with temperature (r = 0.15, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with rainfall (r = - 0.12, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS As there is a clear relationship between weather conditions and ED attendance, incorporating meteorological forecasting into emergency medicine training may improve ED scheduling. To improve the morale of ED staff coping with an onslaught of patients on good weather days, the ED environment should simulate sunny weather, with swimming pools, sun lamps, palm trees and Beach Boys music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel K B Ou
- Austin Health, PO Box 5555, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia.
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Chapman CA, Gillespie TR, Goldberg TL. Primates and the Ecology of their Infectious Diseases: How will Anthropogenic Change Affect Host-Parasite Interactions? Evol Anthropol 2005. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Conti S, Meli P, Minelli G, Solimini R, Toccaceli V, Vichi M, Beltrano C, Perini L. Epidemiologic study of mortality during the Summer 2003 heat wave in Italy. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2005; 98:390-9. [PMID: 15910795 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2004.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 159] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2004] [Revised: 10/15/2004] [Accepted: 10/27/2004] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION It is widely recognized that extreme climatic conditions during summer months may constitute a major public health threat. Owing to what is called the "urban heat island effect," as well as to the consequences of heat waves on health, individuals living in cities have an elevated risk of death when temperature and humidity are high compared to those living in suburban and rural areas. Studies on heat wave-related mortality have further demonstrated that the greatest increases in mortality occur in the elderly. Following the unusually hot summer of 2003 and the dramatic news from neighboring countries such as France, the Italian Minister of Health requested the Istituto Superiore di Sanita-Bureau of Statistics to undertake an epidemiologic study of mortality in Italy during Summer 2003 to investigate whether there had been an excess of deaths, with a particular focus on the elderly population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Communal offices, which maintain vital statistics, were asked for the individual records of death of residents registered daily during the period 1 June-31 August 2003 and during the same period of 2002 for each of the 21 capitals of the Italian regions. As it was necessary to obtain mortality data quickly from many municipalities and to make the analysis as soon as possible, the method adopted was comparison of mortality counts during the heat wave with figures observed during the same period of the previous year. RESULTS Compared with 2002, between 1 June and 31 August 2003, there was an overall increase in mortality of 3134 (from 20,564 to 23,698). The greatest increase was among the elderly; 2876 deaths (92%) occurred among people aged 75 years and older, a more than one-fifth increase (21.3%, from 13.517 to 16.393%). The highest increases were observed in the northwestern cities, which are generally characterized by cold weather, and in individuals 75 years and older: Turin (44.9%), Trento (35.2%), Milan (30.6%), and Genoa (22.2%). Of note are also the increases observed in two southern cities, L'Aquila (24.7%) and Potenza (25.4%), which are located, respectively, at 700 and 800 m above see level. For Bari and Campobasso, both in the South, with a typically hot summer climate, the increase during the last 15 days of August was 186.2 and 450%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The relationship between mortality and discomfort due to climatic conditions as well as the short lag time give a clear public health message: preventive, social, and health care actions must be administered to the elderly and the frail to avoid excess deaths during heat waves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanna Conti
- Bureau of Statistics, National Centre of Epidemiology, Surveillance and Promotion of Health, Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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Delarozière JC, Sanmarco JL. [Excess mortality in people over 65 years old during summer heat waves in Marseille. Comparison before and after a preventive campaign]. Presse Med 2004; 33:13-6. [PMID: 15026715 DOI: 10.1016/s0755-4982(04)98465-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION High temperatures induce excess mortality in the population, even in our country. The 1983 heat wave in Marseille led to the development of warning messages in a preventive campaign since 1984. OBJECTIVE To compare mortality of people over 65 years old during summer heat waves before and after a campaign in Marseille. METHOD The INSEE mortality data were analysed according to the mean temperatures supplied by the National Meteorological Office from 1968 to 1997. A mortality index was developed to limit the effect of the progression in mortality over the last 30 years. The heat wave was defined as a temperature >or=26 degrees C lasting for 2 days during the months of June to August. RESULTS The mean summer temperature in Marseille has increased from 22 to 23 degrees C in 30 years. The number of days of heat wave has also increased during this period. The mean index of daily excess mortality has dropped from 3.27 (1968-82) to 1.32 (1984-97) (p=0.008). CONCLUSION The effects of global warming have been noted in Marseilles over the last 30 years. There has been no disappearance in excess mortality, but the warning messages appear to have been partially effective, even if other factors may have intervened (air-conditioning...). This prevention, like that for the risks related to air pollution, should be generalized because it is inexpensive, although assessment of its efficacy is difficult.
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Hersh BS, Carr RM, Fitzner J, Goodman TS, Mayers GF, Everts H, Laurent E, Larsen GA, Bilous JB. Ensuring injection safety during measles immunization campaigns: more than auto-disable syringes and safety boxes. J Infect Dis 2003; 187 Suppl 1:S299-306. [PMID: 12721929 DOI: 10.1086/368227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Measles immunization campaigns are effective elements of a comprehensive strategy for preventing measles cases and deaths. However, if immunizations are not properly administered or if immunization waste products are not safely managed, there is the potential to transmit bloodborne pathogens (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B and hepatitis C). A safe injection can be defined as one that results in no harm to the recipient, the vaccinator, and the surrounding community. Proper equipment, such as the exclusive use of auto-disable syringes and safety boxes, is necessary, but these alone are not sufficient to ensure injection safety in immunization campaigns. Equally important are careful planning and managerial activities that include policy and strategy development, financing, budgeting, logistics, training, supervision, and monitoring. The key elements that must be in place to ensure injection safety in measles immunization campaigns are outlined.
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Bunyavanich S, Landrigan CP, McMichael AJ, Epstein PR. The impact of climate change on child health. AMBULATORY PEDIATRICS : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMBULATORY PEDIATRIC ASSOCIATION 2003; 3:44-52. [PMID: 12540254 DOI: 10.1367/1539-4409(2003)003<0044:tiocco>2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Human activity has contributed to climate change. The relationship between climate and child health has not been well investigated. This review discusses the role of climate change on child health and suggests 3 ways in which this relationship may manifest. First, environmental changes associated with anthropogenic greenhouse gases can lead to respiratory diseases, sunburn, melanoma, and immunosuppression. Second, climate change may directly cause heat stroke, drowning, gastrointestinal diseases, and psychosocial maldevelopment. Third, ecologic alterations triggered by climate change can increase rates of malnutrition, allergies and exposure to mycotoxins, vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue, encephalitides, Lyme disease), and emerging infectious diseases. Further climate change is likely, given global industrial and political realities. Proactive and preventive physician action, research focused on the differential effects of climate change on subpopulations including children, and policy advocacy on the individual and federal levels could contain climate change and inform appropriate prevention and response.
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