scholarly journals Experiences of heat stress while homeless on hot summer days in Adelaide

2021 ◽  
Vol 10.47389/36 (36.4) ◽  
pp. 55-61
Author(s):  
Danielle Every ◽  
Jim McLennan ◽  
Elizabeth Osborn ◽  
Chris Cook

Historically, heat waves have resulted in more Australian deaths than any other natural hazard and continue to present challenges to the health and emergency management sectors. While people experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of heat waves, little research has been reported about their hot weather experiences. This paper reports findings from interviews with 48 homeless people sleeping rough in Adelaide CBD on very hot days. While the majority reported drinking a litre or more of water in the previous 24 hours, 79% reported experiencing one or more heat stress symptoms. The research highlights that the protective actions people sleeping rough can take during hot weather are limited by their circumstances and may not be sufficient to prevent dehydration and heat stress. The levels of dehydration and heat stress symptoms suggest that immediate responses could include making drinking water more readily available. It may be helpful to provide information which highlights heat stress symptoms including indicators of dehydration. The role of outreach in providing connections, support and advice is most likely to ameliorate the risk of heat stress. However, the long-term response to protect people from heat stress is access to housing.

Author(s):  
Krzysztof Bartoszek ◽  
Alicja Węgrzyn

Abstract The occurrence of hot weather in the Lublin-Felin and Czesławice in relation to atmospheric circulation (1966−2010). The paper describes the occurrence of hot (tmax 25.1−30.0°C) and very hot days (tmax >30°C) in Lublin-Felin and Czesławice in the years 1966−2010. The analysis covers the long-term variability of such days, and duration of heat waves. Their circulation conditions were also determined, with indication of circulation types during which the probability of occurrence of hot and very hot days was the highest. In the study area, hot days occurred from April to September, and very hot days from May to August, with the highest frequency in July in both cases. In the period from 1991 to 2010, a considerably higher number of cases of very hot days were recorded than in the 1970s and 1980s. Moreover, they occurred in increasingly long sequences, contributing to more frequent occurrence of unfavourable thermal and humid conditions during the growing season of plants. The highest probability of occurrence of hot and very hot days was determined for circulation types with airflow from the southern sector, and the lowest from the northern sector. Should the upward trend in the frequency of very hot days continue, the risk of the effect of such unfavourable thermal conditions on the health and well-being of tourists and patients of the health resort in Nałęczów will also increase


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Korhonen ◽  
Otto Hyvärinen ◽  
Matti Kämäräinen ◽  
Kirsti Jylhä

<p>Severe heatwaves have harmful impacts on ecosystems and society. Early warning of heat waves help with decreasing their harmful impact. Previous research shows that the Extended Range Forecasts (ERF) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have over Europe a somewhat higher reforecast skill for extreme hot summer temperatures than for long-term mean temperatures. Also it has been shown that the reforecast skill of the ERFs of the ECMWF was strongly increased by the most severe heat waves (the European heatwave 2003 and the Russian heatwave 2010).</p><p>Our aim is to be able to estimate the skill of a heat wave forecast at the time the forecast is given. For that we investigated the spatial and temporal reforecast skill of the ERFs of the ECMWF to forecast hot days (here defined as a day on which the 5 days running mean surface temperature is above its summer 90<sup>th</sup> percentile) in the continental Europe in summers 2000-2019. We used the ECMWF 2-meter temperature reforecasts and verified them against the ERA5 reanalysis. The skill of the hot day reforecasts was estimated by the symmetric extremal dependence index (SEDI) which considers both hit rates and false alarm rates of the hot day forecasts. Further, we investigated the skill of the heatwave reforecasts based on at which time steps of the forecast the hot days were forecasted. We found that on the mesoscale (horizontal scale of ~500 km) the ERFs of the ECMWF were most skillful in predicting the life cycle of a heat wave (lasting up to 25 days) about a week before its start and during its course. That is, on the mesoscale those reforecasts, in which hot day(s) were forecasted to occur during the first 7…11 days, were more skillful on lead times up to 25 days than the rest of the heat wave forecasts. This finding is valuable information, e.g., in the energy and health sectors while preparing for a coming heat wave.</p><p>The work presented here is part of the research project HEATCLIM (Heat and health in the changing climate) funded by the Academy of Finland.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2249-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Steiger ◽  
Kerim H. Nisancioglu ◽  
Henning Åkesson ◽  
Basile de Fleurian ◽  
Faezeh M. Nick

Abstract. Rapid retreat of Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers coincides with regional warming trends, which have broadly been used to explain these rapid changes. However, outlet glaciers within similar climate regimes experience widely contrasting retreat patterns, suggesting that the local fjord geometry could be an important additional factor. To assess the relative role of climate and fjord geometry, we use the retreat history of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum in 1850 as a baseline for the parameterization of a depth- and width-integrated ice flow model. The impact of fjord geometry is isolated by using a linearly increasing climate forcing since the LIA and testing a range of simplified geometries. We find that the total length of retreat is determined by external factors – such as hydrofracturing, submarine melt and buttressing by sea ice – whereas the retreat pattern is governed by the fjord geometry. Narrow and shallow areas provide pinning points and cause delayed but rapid retreat without additional climate warming, after decades of grounding line stability. We suggest that these geometric pinning points may be used to locate potential sites for moraine formation and to predict the long-term response of the glacier. As a consequence, to assess the impact of climate on the retreat history of a glacier, each system has to be analyzed with knowledge of its historic retreat and the local fjord geometry.


Rare Tumors ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 111-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christin A. Knowlton ◽  
Luther W. Brady ◽  
Rebecca C. Heintzelman

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. Up to one-third of GISTs are malignant with a high rate of metastasis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of care for patients with resectable disease. Imatinib mesylate, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the current standard of care for GISTs that cannot be completely resected or in cases of metastatic GIST. Although often overlooked, radiation therapy is a viable option for select patients with GIST. We report the case of a patient with unresectable GIST who was treated with local radiotherapy and achieved long-term response. We also present a review of the literature regarding the use of radiotherapy in the treatment of GIST. GIST has been shown to be a radiosensitive tumor. Radiotherapy can offer long-term local control and should be considered in the adjuvant or palliative setting. The role of radiotherapy delivered concurrently with imatinib in the treatment of GIST may warrant further investigation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-40
Author(s):  
Sebastian Schroecksnadel ◽  
Jasmina Suljkanovic ◽  
Christian Marth ◽  
Antonio González-Martín ◽  
Domenica Lorusso

The role of chemotherapy in the treatment of vaginal carcinoma has not been well studied and is controversial. This case report describes a 59-year-old patient diagnosed with vaginal squamous cell carcinoma in May 2008. Initial surgery was performed with subsequent radiation therapy; 3 months later histologically-confirmed pulmonary metastases were detected. Chemotherapy with cisplatin and topotecan was administered and resulted in a mixed-disease response. Therefore, chemotherapy was switched to weekly paclitaxel and bevacizumab, which induced a complete response. After more than 70 months of follow-up there has been no sign of recurrence and the patient shows no evidence of disease. This patient had an exceptional response to the combination of bevacizumab and paclitaxel, and this combination warrants further investigation for its potential in vaginal carcinoma.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 04004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommaso Frioni ◽  
Sergio Tombesi ◽  
Elisa Luciani ◽  
Paolo Sabbatini ◽  
Julian G. Berrios ◽  
...  

The aim of the study was to verify if vineyard kaolin application during the 2017 hot summer could reduce the negative effects of high temperatures and heat stress on canopy physiological processes, yield and fruit quality. The kaolin was applied once at the beginning of August, at 3% concentration, in a Pinot Noir vineyard. The application was performed only to the west side of the rows, where the vines were more subjected to heat stress. The 2017 summer was very hot, with maximum air temperature higher than 35 °C for several consecutive days in June, July and August and with heat waves that reached 42.3 °C in August. The kaolin coating works by significantly reducing leaf temperatures in comparison to untreated vines, with an average of about − 4 °C and up to −6 °C. Moreover, it maintains high the photosynthetic activity preventing irreversible photoinhibition phenomena, whereas untreated vines exhibit a marked physiological damage with chlorotic and necrotic leaves, dehydrated berries and sunburn damages. At harvest, 30-35% of the untreated vines were affected by severe water stress symptoms and produced unmarketable fruits. In comparison to the untreated vines, those sprayed with kaolin showed a higher yield (+27%), higher anthocyanins (+35%) and higher concentration of organic acids (+11%)


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Selmoni ◽  
Gael Lecellier ◽  
Veronique Berteaux-Lecellier ◽  
Stephane Joost

Coral reefs around the world are under threat due to widespread decline of hard corals caused by anomalous heat waves. Coral taxa of different morphologies are known to have different sensitivities to heat stress. However, little is known about how long-term effects of heat exposure differ between coral taxa, nor in particular how such effects might drive adaptive processes. Here, we combined worldwide reef survey data with remotely sensed thermal anomalies to evaluate how local rates of taxa-specific coral cover were associated with heat stress. We found a negative association between coral cover and heat stress, where associations were weaker for corals with boulder-like morphology (massive corals), intermediate for corals with arborescent morphology (branching corals) and stronger for corals with encrusting or laminar morphology (plating corals). Additionally, we found that the negative association between branching coral cover and recent exposure to heat stress (measured as the year before a survey) was mitigated by the effect of long-term heat stress (measured since 1985), suggesting that adaptive processes occurred. In contrast, this "mitigating effect" of past heat-stress was not observed for either massive or plating corals. We hypothesize that these different responses to recent and past heat stress mirror different life history traits of coral taxa. For instance, branching corals are known to show higher sensitivities to heat stress and faster growth rates, two characteristics that might boost adaptive rates via evolutionary processes, when compared with other taxa. The results of this work suggest that all coral taxa, regardless of their morphology, will be "losers" of coral bleaching, and that conservation strategies should be adjusted to match taxa-specific responses to heat stress.


IDS Bulletin ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Lind ◽  
Keetie Roelen ◽  
Rachel Sabates-Wheeler

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought sweeping changes for economies and societies, with the most devastating consequences for individuals and groups with pre-existing vulnerabilities. As attention shifts from addressing urgent humanitarian needs to long-term response, it is time to think about the role of social protection as part of a longer-term solution to living with Covid-19, as well as supporting efforts to build back better. This article considers how social protection can offer support and be supported in short‑, medium-, and long-term responses, under different scenarios for how the pandemic might unfold. Based on a secondary literature review, we argue that planning must anticipate the possibility of an enduring pandemic and that the expansion of social protection should not be limited to a short-term response. Rather, Covid-19 presents a necessity and opportunity to establish firm foundations for more comprehensive social protection systems for years to come, including leveraging greater domestic expenditure and international assistance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Robert Brandes ◽  
Anastasia Christopoulou

The present study illustrates the situation of the genus Abies in the Mediterranean and in Greece, focusing in detail on the oromediterranean forest of the southern Peloponnese, at Mt. Taygetos. The existing pattern of forest dynamics (mosaic cycle) and also the timberline dynamics are presented and explained. Since fir forests are highly susceptible to drought-related impacts (fire and fir dieback: insect outbreaks/ forest pathogens), the analysis of the present situation is put into perspective by looking at the role of direct human influence and the climatic fluctuations of the past, taking into consideration dendrochronological findings and archival climate records. In view of climate warming the question is whether in recent decades the fingerprints of climate change can already be observed in the Greek fir forests. The study concludes that drought periods and climatic extremes have been an essential part of Greek climate for many centuries, causing high natural forest vulnerability. Therefore, fir dieback and fires are not a new phenomenon either – but in recent decades the accumulation of fuel, caused by land abandonment, has increased the danger of large wildfires. Nevertheless, the Greek mountain forests are highly endangered by increases in aridity and/or more frequent climate extremes (heat waves), together with increased risk of wildfires. Recommendations for an active forest management (counteracting expected adverse effects of climate change, by focusing on the establishment of an Abies cephalonica Loudon /Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold mosaic cycle) and further scientific research are provided.


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