Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.

/pdf/climate-change-2007-the-physical-science-basis-1x93ttz9jt.pdf

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.

A positive temperature coefficient is the term which has been used to indicate that an increase in solubility occurs as the temperature is raised, whereas a negative coefficient indicates a decrease in solubility with rise in temperature.

Effect of Temperature

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(14)62114-0.pdf

Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study

Ecological speciation: Ecological speciation

Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health: Theoretical and methodological guidance.

BackgroundThe evidence that heat waves can result in both increased deaths and illness is substantial, and concern over this issue is rising because of climate change. Adverse health impacts from h...

/pdf/mapping-community-determinants-of-heat-vulnerability-5belue7dcn.pdf

Mapping community determinants of heat vulnerability.

Background: Heat-wave frequency, intensity, and duration are increasing with global climate change. The association between heat and mortality in the elderly is well documented, but less is known r...

/pdf/heat-heat-waves-and-hospital-admissions-among-the-elderly-in-3tr1opz2n8.pdf

Heat, heat waves, and hospital admissions among the elderly in the United States, 1992-2006

Adaptation to increasing extreme heat in a changing climate requires a precise understanding of who is most vulnerable to the health effects of extreme heat The evidence for race, ethnicity, income, education and occupation, at the individual and area levels, as indicators of vulnerability is reviewed The evidence for the social, behavioral and technological mechanisms by which racial and socioeconomic disparities in vulnerability exist is also reviewed These characteristics include cardiorespiratory, renal and endocrine comorbidities; cognitive, mental or physical disabilities; medication use; housing characteristics; neighborhood characteristics such as urban heat islands, crime and safety; social isolation; and individual behaviors such as air conditioning use, opening windows and using fans and use of cooler public spaces Pre-existing and future research identifying these more proximal indicators of vulnerability will provide information that is more generalizable across locations and time to aid in identifying who to target for prevention of heat-associated morbidity and mortality

/pdf/racial-and-socioeconomic-disparities-in-heat-related-health-4gop58ctzx.pdf

Racial and socioeconomic disparities in heat-related health effects and their mechanisms: a review.

Time series studies show that hot temperatures are associated with increased death rates in the short term. In light of evidence of adaptation to usual temperature but higher deaths at unusual temperatures, a long-term exposure relevant to mortality might be summertime temperature variability, which is expected to increase with climate change. We investigated whether the standard deviation (SD) of summer (June–August) temperatures was associated with survival in four cohorts of persons over age 65 y with predisposing diseases in 135 US cities. Using Medicare data (1985–2006), we constructed cohorts of persons hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and myocardial infarction. City-specific yearly summer temperature variance was linked to the individuals during follow-up in each city and was treated as a time-varying exposure. We applied a Cox proportional hazard model for each cohort within each city, adjusting for individual risk factors, wintertime temperature variance, yearly ozone levels, and long-term trends, to estimate the chronic effects on mortality of long-term exposure to summer temperature SD, and then pooled results across cities. Mortality hazard ratios ranged from 1.028 (95% confidence interval, 1.013– 1.042) per 1 °C increase in summer temperature SD for persons with congestive heart failure to 1.040 (95% confidence interval, 1.022–1.059) per 1 °C increase for those with diabetes. Associations were higher in elderly persons and lower in cities with a higher percentage of land with green surface. Our data suggest that long-term increases in temperature variability may increase the risk of mortality in different subgroups of susceptible older populations.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/109/17/6608.full.pdf

Summer temperature variability and long-term survival among elderly people with chronic disease

Background:Extremes of temperature have been associated with short-term increases in daily mortality. We identified subpopulations with increased susceptibility to dying during temperature extremes, based on personal demographics, small-area characteristics, and preexisting medical conditions.Method

/pdf/susceptibility-to-mortality-in-weather-extremes-effect-4ux0g1pb85.pdf

Carina J. Gronlund

Papers

Mapping community determinants of heat vulnerability.

Heat, heat waves, and hospital admissions among the elderly in the United States, 1992-2006

Racial and socioeconomic disparities in heat-related health effects and their mechanisms: a review.

Summer temperature variability and long-term survival among elderly people with chronic disease

Susceptibility to mortality in weather extremes: effect modification by personal and small-area characteristics.