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Is There a Need to Integrate Human Thermal Models with Weather Forecasts to Predict Thermal Stress?

Petersson, Jakob LU ; Kuklane, Kalev LU and Gao, Chuansi LU (2019) In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16(22).
Abstract
More and more people will experience thermal stress in the future as the global temperature is increasing at an alarming rate and the risk for extreme weather events is growing. The increased exposure to extreme weather events poses a challenge for societies around the world. This literature review investigates the feasibility of making advanced human thermal models in connection with meteorological data publicly available for more versatile practices and a wider population. By providing society and individuals with personalized heat and cold stress warnings, coping advice and educational purposes, the risks of thermal stress can effectively be reduced. One interesting approach is to use weather station data as input for the wet bulb globe... (More)
More and more people will experience thermal stress in the future as the global temperature is increasing at an alarming rate and the risk for extreme weather events is growing. The increased exposure to extreme weather events poses a challenge for societies around the world. This literature review investigates the feasibility of making advanced human thermal models in connection with meteorological data publicly available for more versatile practices and a wider population. By providing society and individuals with personalized heat and cold stress warnings, coping advice and educational purposes, the risks of thermal stress can effectively be reduced. One interesting approach is to use weather station data as input for the wet bulb globe temperature heat stress index, human heat balance models, and wind chill index to assess heat and cold stress. This review explores the advantages and challenges of this approach for the ongoing EU project ClimApp where more advanced models may provide society with warnings on an individual basis for different thermal environments such as tropical heat or polar cold. The biggest challenges identified are properly assessing mean radiant temperature, microclimate weather data availability, integration and continuity of different thermal models, and further model validation for vulnerable groups (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
heat stress, cold stress, human thermal models, meteorological forecast, therman stress warning, heat wave, cold spell
in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
volume
16
issue
22
article number
16
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85075374247
  • pmid:31752444
ISSN
1660-4601
DOI
10.3390/ijerph16224586
project
Translating climate service into personalized adaptation strategies to cope with thermal climate stress
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
277becf1-c494-44e1-b1ad-0d0b3b3fc2e2
date added to LUP
2019-11-24 11:45:52
date last changed
2022-04-18 19:07:08
@article{277becf1-c494-44e1-b1ad-0d0b3b3fc2e2,
  abstract     = {{More and more people will experience thermal stress in the future as the global temperature is increasing at an alarming rate and the risk for extreme weather events is growing. The increased exposure to extreme weather events poses a challenge for societies around the world. This literature review investigates the feasibility of making advanced human thermal models in connection with meteorological data publicly available for more versatile practices and a wider population. By providing society and individuals with personalized heat and cold stress warnings, coping advice and educational purposes, the risks of thermal stress can effectively be reduced. One interesting approach is to use weather station data as input for the wet bulb globe temperature heat stress index, human heat balance models, and wind chill index to assess heat and cold stress. This review explores the advantages and challenges of this approach for the ongoing EU project ClimApp where more advanced models may provide society with warnings on an individual basis for different thermal environments such as tropical heat or polar cold. The biggest challenges identified are properly assessing mean radiant temperature, microclimate weather data availability, integration and continuity of different thermal models, and further model validation for vulnerable groups}},
  author       = {{Petersson, Jakob and Kuklane, Kalev and Gao, Chuansi}},
  issn         = {{1660-4601}},
  keywords     = {{heat stress; cold stress; human thermal models; meteorological forecast; therman stress warning; heat wave; cold spell}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{22}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}},
  title        = {{Is There a Need to Integrate Human Thermal Models with Weather Forecasts to Predict Thermal Stress?}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224586}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijerph16224586}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}