Identifying community values related to heat: recommendations for forecast and health risk communication

Effective communication of heat risk to public audiences is critical for promoting behavioral changes that reduce susceptibility to heat-related illness. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) provides heat-related information to the public using social media platforms such as Facebook. We applied a novel rhetorical framework to evaluate 5 years (2015–2019) of public responses to heat-related Facebook posts from the NWS office in Phoenix (Arizona) to identify “commonplaces” or community norms, beliefs, and values that may present challenges to the effectiveness of heat risk communication. Phoenix is in one of the hottest regions in North America and is the 10th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. We found the following two key commonplaces: (1) the normalization of heat and (2) heat as a marker of community identity. These commonplaces imply that local audiences may be resistant to behavioral change, but they can also be harnessed in an effort to promote protective action. We also found that public responses to NWS posts declined over the heat season, further suggesting the normalization of heat and highlighting the need to maintain engagement. This work provides a readily generalizable framework for other messengers of high-impact weather events to improve the effectiveness of their communication with receiver audiences.

Relationship between water quality, sanitation and hygiene on environmental health of community settled on Kahayan River Bank, Palangka Raya

People in Central Kalimantan province have long depended on the rivers around their villages. Yet, reports from the local health service show that the five diseases with the most patients are related to environmental factors, such as sanitation of water reservoirs and sanitation of home yards. This study aims to analyze the relationship between water quality, sanitation, and hygiene on environmental health in settlements on the banks of the Kahayan River. Data on sanitation, hygiene, and public health status were collected through observation and interviews, while river water quality was tested in the laboratory. The water to be analyzed was taken from three spots, namely upstream and downstream of the river, which are located out of the city, and the middle of river stream in the city centre. The results showed that the quality of water, sanitation, and hygiene in the city centre did not have a significant effect on environmental health even though the Environmental Heat Risk Assessment (EHRA) in the area showed poor scores. The study concludes that waste, as well as clean and healthy living behaviour is the biggest sanitation risks for environmental health. Synchronization of programs by related agencies could facilitate the arrangement of settlements on the riverbanks.

Heat adaptation measures in private households: an application and adaptation of the protective action decision model

Extreme heatwaves will occur more frequently and with higher intensity in future. Their consequences for human health can be fatal if adaptation measures will not be taken. This study analyses factors related to heat adaptation measures in private households in Germany. During the summer months of 2019, indoor temperatures were measured in over 500 private households in the City of Augsburg, Germany, accompanied by a survey to find out about heat perception and adaptation measures. Hypotheses deducted from the Protective Action Decision Model were tested using one-way ANOVAs, regression analysis and in the end a multiple hierarchical regression model. The results of the hypotheses tested imply an influence of knowledge and heat risk perception of heat adaptation behaviour and an influence of age on heat risk perception. The results of the regression model show an influence of the efficacy-related attribute, of age, indoor temperature, subjective heat stress and health implications to heat adaptation behaviour. In the end, this study proposes adjustments to the PADM according to the results of the hierarchical regression analysis.

Work Safety

This research proposes an inference model fuzzy to analyses hazardous environmental work conditions, specifically insalubrious work conditions relevant for heat risk to support the safety engineers for making decisions. The article presents a study that consists of a fuzzy inference model specification for the evaluation of heat agents. The structure of model fuzzy used are inputs temperature and metabolic rate, while the output is work environment condition that could be salubrious or insalubrious. Through, the inference method Mamdani and rules established according to Brazil legislation about heat, Occupational Hygiene Standard 06, the proposed model can determine the work conditions about the heat. The validation process is done in an industry from the Industrial Pole of Manaus, therefor all the process necessary for preparations to use the proposed model is described to obtain all the variables necessary in the field. As a result, the proposed model got the correct classification of work environment conditions with pertinent results according to current legislation and technical expertise.

Skin Temperature Distribution on Simulation Thermal Effects Under Construction Climate

Global warming is bringing more frequent and severe heat waves. Construction workers are particularly vulnerable to heat risk due to the job culture in the outdoor environment. Unrestrained heat has extreme effects on skin temperature, which will lead to low performance and also results to injuries and fatalities. This study aims to investigate the distribution of skin surface temperature under seven different thermal conditions involving variations in temperature and relative humidity. The computational simulation models based on real construction climate were developed. Simulation results showed the highest heat index (a combination of temperature/relative humidity) is at 34 oC/92% and 38 oC/83% and fall under extreme danger category. At this level, the models were experienced high heat/sunstroke continuous exposure. This study also indicated that skin temperature has significantly in?uenced by the hot and humid environment. It is hoped that this study is able to provide guidance and reference to the industry, especially the construction sector by providing appropriate control measures to overcome the issue of heat risk among workers.

Combining socio-economic and climate projections to assess heat risk

The assessments of future climate risks are common; however, usually, they focus on climate projections without considering social changes. We project heat risks for Finland to evaluate (1) what kind of differences there are in heat vulnerability projections with different scenarios and scales, and (2) how the use of socio-economic scenarios influences heat risk assessments. We project a vulnerability index with seven indicators downscaled to the postal code area scale for 2050. Three different scenario sets for vulnerability are tested: one with five global Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios; the second with three European SSPs (EUSSPs) with data at the sub-national scale (NUTS2); and the last with the EUSSPs but aggregated data at the national scale. We construct projections of heat risk utilizing climatic heat hazard data for three different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and vulnerability and exposure data for five global SSPs up to 2100. In the vulnerability projections, each scenario in each dataset shows a decrease in vulnerability compared to current values, and the differences between the three scenario sets are small. There are evident differences both in the spatial patterns and in the temporal trends when comparing the risk projections with constant vulnerability to the projections with dynamic vulnerability. Heat hazard increases notably in RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, but a decrease of vulnerability especially in SSP1 and SSP5 alleviates risks. We show that projections of vulnerability have a considerable impact on future heat-related risk and emphasize that future risk assessments should include the combination of long-term climatic and socio-economic projections.