Simpson, Charles H;
Brousse, Oscar;
Ebi, Kristie L;
Heaviside, Clare;
(2023)
Commonly used indices disagree about the effect of moisture on heat stress.
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
, 6
, Article 78. 10.1038/s41612-023-00408-0.
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Abstract
Irrigation and urban greening can mitigate extreme temperatures and reduce adverse health impacts from heat. However, some recent studies suggest these interventions could actually exacerbate heat stress by increasing humidity. These studies use different heat stress indices (HSIs), hindering intercomparisons of the relative roles of temperature and humidity. Our method uses calculus of variations to compare the sensitivity of HSIs to temperature and humidity, independent of HSI units. We explain the properties of different HSIs and identify conditions under which they disagree. We highlight recent studies where the use of different HSIs could have led to opposite conclusions. Our findings have significant implications for the evaluation of irrigation and urban greening as adaptive responses to overheating and climate adaptation measures in general. We urge researchers to be critical in their choice of HSIs, especially in relation to health outcomes; our method provides a useful tool for making informed comparisons.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Commonly used indices disagree about the effect of moisture on heat stress |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41612-023-00408-0 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-023-00408-0 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Atmospheric science, Environmental health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10173865 |
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