New approach to identifying proper thresholds for a heat warning system using health risk increments

The synergistic effect of high temperature and relative humidity on non-accidental deaths at different urbanization levels

Numerous studies have examined the impact of temperature on mortality, yet research on the combined effect of temperature and humidity on non-accidental deaths remains limited. This study investigates the synergistic impact of high temperature and humidity on non-accidental deaths in China, assessing the influence of urban development and urbanization level. Utilizing the distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) of quasi-Poisson regression, we analyzed the relationship between Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and non-accidental deaths in 30 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2016, including Guangzhou during 2012-2016. We stratified temperature and humidity across these cities to evaluate the influence of varying humidity levels on deaths under high temperatures. Then, we graded the duration of heat and humidity in these cities to assess the impact of deaths with different durations. Additionally, the cities were categorized based on gross domestic product (GDP), and a vulnerability index was calculated to examine the impact of urban development and urbanization level on non-accidental deaths. Our findings reveal a pronounced synergistic effect of high temperature and humidity on non-accidental deaths, particularly at elevated humidity levels. The synergies of high temperature and humidity are extremely complex. Moreover, the longer the duration of high temperature and humidity, the higher the risk of non-accidental death. Furthermore, areas with higher urbanization exhibited lower relative risks (RR) associated with the synergistic effects of heat and humidity. Consequently, it is imperative to focus on damp-heat related mortality among vulnerable populations in less developed regions.

The significant mechanism and treatments of cell death in heatstroke

With global warming, extreme environmental heat is becoming a social issue of concern, which can cause adverse health results including heatstroke (HS). Severe heat stress is characterized by cell death of direct heat damage, excessive inflammatory responses, and coagulation disorders that can lead to multiple organ dysfunction (MODS) and even death. However, the significant pathophysiological mechanism and treatment of HS are still not fully clear. Various modes of cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, necroptosis and PANoptosis are involved in MODS induced by heatstroke. In this review, we summarized molecular mechanism, key transcriptional regulation as for HSF1, NRF2, NF-κB and PARP-1, and potential therapies of cell death resulting in CNS, liver, intestine, reproductive system and kidney injury induced by heat stress. Understanding the mechanism of cell death provides new targets to protect multi-organ function in HS.

Changes in wet bulb globe temperature and risk to heat-related hazards in Bangladesh

The rise in temperatures and changes in other meteorological variables have exposed millions of people to health risks in Bangladesh, a densely populated, hot, and humid country. To better assess the threats climate change poses to human health, the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is an important indicator of human heat stress. This study utilized high-resolution reanalysis data from the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF ERA5) to analyze the spatiotemporal changes in outdoor WBGT across Bangladesh from 1979 to 2021, employing Liljegren's model. The study revealed an increase in the annual average WBGT by 0.08-0.5 °C per decade throughout the country, with a more pronounced rise in the southeast and northeast regions. Additionally, the number of days with WBGT levels associated with high and extreme risks of heat-related illnesses has shown an upward trend. Specifically, during the monsoon period (June to September), there has been an increase of 2-4 days per decade, and during the pre-monsoon period (March to May), an increase of 1-3 days per decade from 1979 to 2021. Furthermore, the results indicated that the escalation in WBGT has led to a five-fold increase in affected areas and a three-fold increase in days of high and extreme heat stress during the monsoon season in recent years compared to the earlier period. Trend and relative importance analyses of various meteorological variables demonstrated that air temperature is the primary driver behind Bangladesh's rising WBGT and related health risks, followed by specific humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation.

Greenspace pattern, meteorology and air pollutant in Taiwan: A multifaceted connection

Air pollution is a global environmental concern that poses a significant threat to human health. Given the impact of urbanization and climate change, green planning is being encouraged to improve air quality. The study aims to examine the intricate relationships between greenspace pattern and outdoor air around 73 in-situ stations over Taiwan during the dry (November to April) and wet (May to December) seasons from 2015 to 2020. To achieve this, Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling was utilized to analyze the interactions among seven dimensions: greenspace - GS, gaseous pollutant - GP, particle pollutant - PP, O3 - OZONE, air temperature - TEMP, relative humidity - RH, and wind speed - WS. The GS involves seven landscape metrics: edge density, total edge, effective mesh size, largest patch area, percentage of landscape, total core area, and patch cohesion index. The results indicate that the GS has a stronger effect on the GP, whereas its effect on the PP is weaker during the dry season compared to the wet season. While its effect on the TEMP is weaker, it shows a slightly stronger effect on the RH during the dry season. Moreover, the GS mediates the air pollutant dimensions during the two seasons, with the RH acting as a primary mediator. The meteorological dimensions primarily have a greater influence on the air pollutant dimensions during the dry season than the wet season. Consequently, the GS explains 11.3 % more and 18.4 % less of the variances in the RH and TEMP during the dry season, respectively. Moreover, the GS and meteorological dimensions yield a seasonal difference in explained variance, with the highest value observed for the OZONE (R2 = 24.2 %), followed by the PP (R2 = 9.7 %) and GP (R2 = 7.7 %). Notably, seven landscape metrics serve as potential indicators for green strategies in urban planning to enhance outdoor air quality.

Shifting focus: Time to look beyond the classic physiological adaptations associated with human heat acclimation

Planet Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate and our future is now assured to be shaped by the consequences of more frequent hot days and extreme heat. Humans will need to adapt both behaviorally and physiologically to thrive in a hotter climate. From a physiological perspective, countless studies have shown that human heat acclimation increases thermoeffector output (i.e., sweating and skin blood flow) and lowers cardiovascular strain (i.e., heart rate) during heat stress. However, the mechanisms mediating these adaptations remain understudied. Furthermore, several possible benefits of heat acclimation for other systems and functions involved in maintaining health and performance during heat stress remain to be elucidated. This review summarizes recent advances in human heat acclimation, with emphasis on recent studies that (1) advanced our understanding of the mechanisms mediating improved thermoeffector output and (2) investigated adaptations that go beyond those classically associated with heat acclimation. We highlight that these studies have contributed to a better understanding of the integrated physiological responses underlying human heat acclimation while leaving key unanswered questions that will need to be addressed in the future.

A pilot heat-health warning system co-designed for a subtropical city

Significant heat-related casualties underlie the urgency of establishing a heat-health warning system (HHWS). This paper presents an evidence-based pilot HHWS developed for Taipei City, Taiwan, through a co-design process engaging stakeholders. In the co-design process, policy concerns related to biometeorology, epidemiology and public health, and risk communication aspects were identified, with knowledge gaps being filled by subsequent findings. The biometeorological results revealed that Taipei residents were exposed to wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) levels of health concern for at least 100 days in 2016. The hot spots and periods identified using WBGT would be missed out if using temperature, underlining the importance of adopting an appropriate heat indicator. Significant increases in heat-related emergency were found in Taipei at WBGT exceeding 36°C with reference-adjusted risk ratio (RaRR) of 2.42, taking 30°C as the reference; and residents aged 0-14 had the highest risk enhancement (RaRR = 7.70). As for risk communication, occurring frequency was evaluated to avoid too frequent warnings, which would numb the public and exhaust resources. After integrating knowledge and reconciling the different preferences and perspectives, the pilot HHWS was co-implemented in 2018 by the science team and Taipei City officials; accompanying responsive measures were formulated for execution by ten city government departments/offices. The results of this pilot served as a useful reference for establishing a nationwide heat-alert app in 2021/2022. The lessons learnt during the interactive co-design processes provide valuable insights for establishing HHWSs worldwide.

Survey of extreme heat public health preparedness plans and response activities in the most populous jurisdictions in the United States

BACKGROUND

Increasingly frequent and intense extreme heat events (EHEs) are indicative of climate change impacts, and urban areas' social and built environments increase their risk for health consequences. Heat action plans (HAPs) are a strategy to bolster municipal EHE preparedness. The objective of this research is to characterize municipal interventions to EHEs and compare U.S. jurisdictions with and without formal heat action plans.

METHODS

An online survey was sent to 99 U.S. jurisdictions with populations > 200,000 between September 2021 and January 2022. Summary statistics were calculated to describe the proportion of total jurisdictions, as well as jurisdictions with and without HAPs and in different geographies that reported engagement in extreme heat preparedness and response activities.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight (38.4%) jurisdictions responded to the survey. Of those respondents, twenty-three (60.5%) reported the development of a HAP, of which 22 (95.7%) reported plans for opening cooling centers. All respondents reported conducting heat-related risk communications; however, communication approaches focused on passive, technology-dependent mechanisms. While 75.7% of jurisdictions reported having developed a definition for an EHE, less than two-thirds of responding jurisdictions reported any of the following activities: conducting heat-related surveillance (61.1%), implementing provisions for power outages (53.1%), increasing access to fans or air conditioners (48.4%), developing heat vulnerability maps (43.2%), or evaluating activities (34.2%). There were only two statistically significant (p ≥ .05) differences in the prevalence of heat-related activities between jurisdictions with and without a written HAP, possibly attributable to a relatively small sample size: surveillance and having a definition of extreme heat.

CONCLUSIONS

Jurisdictions can strengthen their extreme heat preparedness by expanding their consideration of at-risk populations to include communities of color, conducting formal evaluations of their responses, and by bridging the gap between the populations determined to be most at-risk and the channels of communication designed to reach them.

Explorative Assessment of the Temperature-Mortality Association to Support Health-Based Heat-Warning Thresholds: A National Case-Crossover Study in Switzerland

Defining health-based thresholds for effective heat warnings is crucial for climate change adaptation strategies. Translating the non-linear function between heat and health effects into an effective threshold for heat warnings to protect the population is a challenge. We present a systematic analysis of heat indicators in relation to mortality. We applied distributed lag non-linear models in an individual-level case-crossover design to assess the effects of heat on mortality in Switzerland during the warm season from 2003 to 2016 for three temperature metrics (daily mean, maximum, and minimum temperature), and various threshold temperatures and heatwave definitions. Individual death records with information on residential address from the Swiss National Cohort were linked to high-resolution temperature estimates from 100 m resolution maps. Moderate (90th percentile) to extreme thresholds (99.5th percentile) of the three temperature metrics implied a significant increase in mortality (5 to 38%) in respect of the median warm-season temperature. Effects of the threshold temperatures on mortality were similar across the seven major regions in Switzerland. Heatwave duration did not modify the effect when considering delayed effects up to 7 days. This nationally representative study, accounting for small-scale exposure variability, suggests that the national heat-warning system should focus on heatwave intensity rather than duration. While a different heat-warning indicator may be appropriate in other countries, our evaluation framework is transferable to any country.

Wet Bulb Globe Temperature: Indicating Extreme Heat Risk on a Global Grid

The Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) is an international standard heat index used by the health, industrial, sports, and climate sectors to assess thermal comfort during heat extremes. Observations of its components, the globe and the wet bulb temperature (WBT), are however sparse. Therefore WBGT is difficult to derive, making it common to rely on approximations, such as the ones developed by Liljegren et al. (2008, https://doi.org/10.1080/15459620802310770, W B G T L i l j e g r e n ) and by the American College of Sports Medicine ( W B G T A C S M 87 ). In this study, a global data set is created by implementing an updated WBGT method using ECMWF ERA5 gridded meteorological variables and is evaluated against existing WBGT methods. The new method, W B G T B r i m i c o m b e , uses globe temperature calculated using mean radiant temperature and is found to be accurate in comparison to W B G T L i l j e g r e n across three heatwave case studies. In addition, it is found that W B G T A C S M 87 is not an adequate approximation of WBGT. Our new method is a candidate for a global forecasting early warning system.

Heat wave adaptation paradigm and adaptation strategies of community: A qualitative phenomenological study in Iran

BACKGROUND

Heat wave adaptation is a new concept related to experiencing heat. The present study aims at investigating a conceptual definition, that is, the mental framework of heat wave adaptation and its strategies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A phenomenological study was performed to explain the mental concept. At the same time with the data collection process, data analysis was also performed using Colaizzi method. Semi-structured interview method and purposeful sampling with maximum variety were used. Interviews were conducted with 23 different subjects in the community. The accuracy of the data was guaranteed using Lincoln & Guba scientific accuracy criteria.

RESULTS

The two main themes of the adaptation paradigm as well as its strategies were divided into the main categories of theoretical and operational concepts, as well as personal care measures and government measures. Under the category of individual measures, we obtained "clothing, nutrition, building, place of residence and lifestyle," and under the category of governance actions, the "managerial, research, health, organizational" subcategories were obtained.

CONCLUSION

According to the results of the conceptual-operational definition, heat wave adaptation is an active process and an effort to reduce the adverse effects of heat waves on individual and social life, and striking a balance that will not only result in individual awareness and actions that will lead to lifestyle changes, but also mostly requires integrated and comprehensive planning in the community. On the one hand, heat waves could not only be regarded as a threat or danger, but can also become an opportunity for the development of a community through identification and smart measures, and for adaptation, the community must take it as a risk. The community should have a plan in advance, apply the necessary rules and training, and use the new facilities and rules where necessary. This practical concept definition includes the main features of heat wave adaptation.

Identifying factors contributing to social vulnerability through a deliberative Q-Sort process: an application to heat vulnerability in Taiwan

Extreme heat events are gaining ever more policy and societal attention under a warming climate. Although a breadth of expertises are required to understand drivers of vulnerability to hazards such as extreme heat, it is also acknowledged that expert assessments in group settings may be subject to biases and uneven power relations. In this Technical Note, we outline a structured deliberative process for supporting experts to work collaboratively to assess social vulnerability to a climate-related hazard, in this case extreme heat in Taiwanese cities. We argue that adapting elicitation approaches such as Q-Methodology for use in collaborative settings can help to organise expert discussion and enable dialogue and mutual learning, in a way that supports consensus-building on vulnerability assessment. Outcomes from our collaborative assessments suggest elderly people living alone, elderly people over 75, pre-existing circulatory diseases and level of participation in community decision-making may all be notable drivers of heat vulnerability in the Taiwanese context. Methodologically, we argue that collaborative sorting exercises offer a way to embed local and experiential knowledges into assessments of available evidence, but that strong facilitation and additional checks are necessary to ensure an inclusive process that reflects the diversity of perspectives involved.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11069-022-05280-4.

The Effectiveness Of Government Masking Mandates On COVID-19 County-Level Case Incidence Across The United States, 2020

Evidence for the effectiveness of masking on SARS-CoV-2 transmission at the individual level has accumulated, but the additional benefit of community-level mandates is less certain. In this observational study of matched cohorts from 394 US counties between March 21 and October 20, 2020, we estimated the association between county-level public masking mandates and daily COVID-19 case incidence. On average, the daily case incidence per 100,000 people in masked counties compared with unmasked counties declined by 23 percent at four weeks, 33 percent at six weeks, and 16 percent across six weeks postintervention. The beneficial effect varied across regions of different population densities and political leanings. The most concentrated effects of masking mandates were seen in urban counties; the benefit of the mandates was potentially stronger within Republican-leaning counties. Although benefits were not equally distributed in all regions, masking mandates conferred benefit in reducing community case incidence during an early period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selecting Thresholds of Heat-Warning Systems with Substantial Enhancement of Essential Population Health Outcomes for Facilitating Implementation

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.

Hot weather and heat extremes: health risks

Hot ambient conditions and associated heat stress can increase mortality and morbidity, as well as increase adverse pregnancy outcomes and negatively affect mental health. High heat stress can also reduce physical work capacity and motor-cognitive performances, with consequences for productivity, and increase the risk of occupational health problems. Almost half of the global population and more than 1 billion workers are exposed to high heat episodes and about a third of all exposed workers have negative health effects. However, excess deaths and many heat-related health risks are preventable, with appropriate heat action plans involving behavioural strategies and biophysical solutions. Extreme heat events are becoming permanent features of summer seasons worldwide, causing many excess deaths. Heat-related morbidity and mortality are projected to increase further as climate change progresses, with greater risk associated with higher degrees of global warming. Particularly in tropical regions, increased warming might mean that physiological limits related to heat tolerance (survival) will be reached regularly and more often in coming decades. Climate change is interacting with other trends, such as population growth and ageing, urbanisation, and socioeconomic development, that can either exacerbate or ameliorate heat-related hazards. Urban temperatures are further enhanced by anthropogenic heat from vehicular transport and heat waste from buildings. Although there is some evidence of adaptation to increasing temperatures in high-income countries, projections of a hotter future suggest that without investment in research and risk management actions, heat-related morbidity and mortality are likely to increase.

Compound Climate and Infrastructure Events: How Electrical Grid Failure Alters Heat Wave Risk

The potential for critical infrastructure failures during extreme weather events is rising. Major electrical grid failure or "blackout" events in the United States, those with a duration of at least 1 h and impacting 50,000 or more utility customers, increased by more than 60% over the most recent 5 year reporting period. When such blackout events coincide in time with heat wave conditions, population exposures to extreme heat both outside and within buildings can reach dangerously high levels as mechanical air conditioning systems become inoperable. Here, we combine the Weather Research and Forecasting regional climate model with an advanced building energy model to simulate building-interior temperatures in response to concurrent heat wave and blackout conditions for more than 2.8 million residents across Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; and Phoenix, Arizona. Study results find simulated compound heat wave and grid failure events of recent intensity and duration to expose between 68 and 100% of the urban population to an elevated risk of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.

Mapping temporal and spatial changes in land use and land surface temperature based on MODIS data

Climate change and the rapid expansion of the built environment have intensified heat stress worldwide. Due to environmental changes and urbanization, some studies show evidence of spatial and temporal changes in heat stress. The objective of this study is to apply spatial analysis to explore temporal and spatial changes in heat stress and to conduct a comparative analysis of land surface temperature (LST) and land use. The results show a significant expansion of the areas where the LST is over 35 °C or between 30 °C and 35 °C. A comparative analysis between the expansion of areas with high LSTs and changing land use types shows that LSTs were indeed higher in 2014 than the values in 2008 and that LSTs remained relatively high in areas where the LST was over 35 °C or between 30 °C and 35 °C. The temperature variation is not significant between urban and rural areas, indicating that heat stress has been extended toward particular rural areas. The cooling effect provided by open space is not significant, so city planners should exert more effort to mitigate extreme heat stress. As a whole, heat stress does change temporally and spatially, and the results of the comparative analysis could be further referenced in future efforts to improve the ability of areas to adapt to heat stress based on various land use patterns.

Dealing with Green Gentrification and Vertical Green-Related Urban Well-Being: A Contextual-Based Design Framework

Urbanization and climate change have generated ever-increased pressure to the ecosystem, bringing critical resilience challenges to densely congested cities. The resulted displaced and encroached habitat in need of recuperation demands a comprehensive overhaul to the customary urban planning practices; further, the deteriorating public health state of urban residents calls for strategies in dealing with green deprivation and gentrification issues. Frequently, urban greening strategies are envisaged at a macro-scale on a dedicated horizontal track of land, rendering local implementation in a densely built neighborhood a challenged undertaking. Communities lacking green and land resources could promote vertical greening to enable and enhance social and psychological well-being. This study ascertains that vertical greenery closest to the inhabitants could be allocated on a building facade. It can contribute to a more sustainable ecology. The article presents the systemic design approach to urban vertical greening thinking and its role in well-being provision. We propose an interdisciplinary multicriteria contextual-based scalable framework to assess vertical green infrastructure; the prototype requires an innovative approach to balance architecture, human needs, and the local environment. The vertical greening application provides an alternative paradigm in the design implementation for urban green. We proposed the locality and place to be incorporated into the vertical greening design framework. The research concludes the three-tiered consideration framework resulted: (1) in line with the human-habitat ecosystem, the local environment-social dimension is explored; (2) the well-being criteria encourage the design practice’s support for localized driven community vitality; (3) the design paradigm requires integration with the increasing demand for green space as well as taking into account the impact of severe climate; and (4) the framework should achieve the strengthening of health and well-being of the community.

Association of Social Distancing, Population Density, and Temperature With the Instantaneous Reproduction Number of SARS-CoV-2 in Counties Across the United States

IMPORTANCE

Local variation in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) across the United States has not been well studied.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association of county-level factors with variation in the SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number over time.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cohort study included 211 counties, representing state capitals and cities with at least 100 000 residents and including 178 892 208 US residents, in 46 states and the District of Columbia between February 25, 2020, and April 23, 2020.

EXPOSURES

Social distancing, measured by percentage change in visits to nonessential businesses; population density; and daily wet-bulb temperatures.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Instantaneous reproduction number (Rt), or cases generated by each incident case at a given time, estimated from daily case incidence data.

RESULTS

The 211 counties contained 178 892 208 of 326 289 971 US residents (54.8%). Median (interquartile range) population density was 1022.7 (471.2-1846.0) people per square mile. The mean (SD) peak reduction in visits to nonessential business between April 6 and April 19, as the country was sheltering in place, was 68.7% (7.9%). Median (interquartile range) daily wet-bulb temperatures were 7.5 (3.8-12.8) °C. Median (interquartile range) case incidence and fatality rates per 100 000 people were approximately 10 times higher for the top decile of densely populated counties (1185.2 [313.2-1891.2] cases; 43.7 [10.4-106.7] deaths) than for counties in the lowest density quartile (121.4 [87.8-175.4] cases; 4.2 [1.9-8.0] deaths). Mean (SD) Rt in the first 2 weeks was 5.7 (2.5) in the top decile compared with 3.1 (1.2) in the lowest quartile. In multivariable analysis, a 50% decrease in visits to nonessential businesses was associated with a 45% decrease in Rt (95% CI, 43%-49%). From a relative Rt at 0 °C of 2.13 (95% CI, 1.89-2.40), relative Rt decreased to a minimum as temperatures warmed to 11 °C, increased between 11 and 20 °C (1.61; 95% CI, 1.42-1.84) and then declined again at temperatures greater than 20 °C. With a 70% reduction in visits to nonessential business, 202 counties (95.7%) were estimated to fall below a threshold Rt of 1.0, including 17 of 21 counties (81.0%) in the top density decile and 52 of 53 counties (98.1%) in the lowest density quartile.2.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this cohort study, social distancing, lower population density, and temperate weather were associated with a decreased Rt for SARS-CoV-2 in counties across the United States. These associations could inform selective public policy planning in communities during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Analysis of Hygrothermal Microclimatic (HTM) Parameters in Specific Food Storage Environments in Slovakia

The quality of work environment, temperature changes and humidity must be controlled in every production process and in the locations where employees are present. The aim of this paper is to objectively assess the exposure of employees to microclimatic factors of the workplace environment: the warehouse, changing rooms, office and cold room refrigerator. Data were obtained in real working conditions. The heat stress due to cold and heat exposure in the individual locations was evaluated using the WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) indicator. The parameters of the hygrothermal microclimate (HTM) were objectified by a QUES Temp 44/46 T spherical thermometer. The measurements were performed both in cold and hot periods of the year. The measurements confirmed standard temperatures for individual types of interiors in the winter period, but in the summer period there was a variability of results, leading to the thermal discomfort of employees. The assessment of the WBGT index revealed that nearly 80% of employees are susceptible to hypothermia as a result of thermal stress conditions. It was proven that the temperatures measured by a spherical thermometer in the hottest room were 8.62% higher than the calculated operating temperature, while the difference in the cold room refrigerator was only 1.28% higher.

Heat-health action plans in Europe: Challenges ahead and how to tackle them

High temperatures have periodically affected large areas in Europe and urban settings. In particular, the deadly 2003 summer heat waves precipitated a multitude of national and subnational health prevention and research efforts. Building on these and other international experiences the WHO Regional Office for Europe developed and published in 2008 a comprehensive framework for prevention, the heat-health action plans (HHAPs). This provided a blueprint used by several national and subnational authorities to design their prevention efforts. A decade after the publication of the WHO guidance, a wealth of new evidence and acquired implementation experience has emerged around HHAP effectiveness; heat exposure; acclimatization and adaptation; heat-health governance and stakeholder involvement; and the role of urban design and greening interventions in prevention. This evidence and experience can guide the strategies to tackle current and upcoming challenges in protecting health from heat under a warming climate.