![]() ![]() In addition to the meteorological conditions, physiological parameters of the human body are also relevant. On account for this, an analysis of the relation between heat stress and mortality should include other meteorological parameters besides the air temperature. Additionally, wind speed can reduce the thermal stress conditions and different radiation fluxes can modify the thermal perception largely. For heat stress, not only the air temperature, but also the water vapor pressure of the surrounding air, which affects our ability to cool down the body through transpiration, is of importance. The human body is affected by the thermal environment, which is influenced by many different factors. ![]() In twelve European countries, about 80,000 additional deaths were recorded during the summer. ![]() During the summer around 180 deaths were attributable to heat stress in Vienna. In Barcelona (Spain) more than 500 additional people died during the extraordinary conditions of this summer and in Paris (France), where the center of the August heat wave was located, more than 300 people died between the 2nd and 12th of August, 2003. The health impact of summer 2003 in Vienna (Austria) was not as severe as in other Western-European countries. The high number of heat-related deaths during the summer of 2003, in combination with the probability of an increase of heat wave frequency and duration due to climate change creates the need to assess the future development of heat-related mortality. ![]()
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