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Many recent very influential reports, including those from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Risk Factor Collaborators, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, and the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, have recommended dramatic reductions or total exclusion of animal-source foods, particularly ruminant products (red meat and dairy), from the human diet. They strongly suggest that these dietary shifts will not only benefit planetary health but also human health. However, as detailed in this perspective, there are grounds for considerable concern in regard to the quality and transparency of the input data, the validity of the assumptions, and the appropriateness of the statistical modelling, used in the calculation of the global health estimates, which underpin the claimed human health benefits. The lessor bioavailability of protein and key micronutrients from plant-source foods versus animal-source foods was not adequately recognised nor addressed in any of these reports. Furthermore, assessments of bias and certainty were either limited or absent. Despite many of these errors and limitations being publically acknowledged by the GBD and the EAT-Lancet authors, no corrections have been applied to the published papers. As a consequence, these reports continue to erroneously influence food policy decisions and international dietary guidelines, such as the World Wildlife Fund's Livewell Diet, and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments, regulatory bodies, and manufacturers are proposing plans to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), with the goal of reducing the impact of greenhouse gases and pollutants from internal combustion engines on human health and climate change. In this context, the paper considers a scenario where ride-sharing enterprises utilize a 100%-electrified fleet of vehicles, and seeks responses to the following key question: How can renewable-based EV charging be maximized without disrupting the quality of the ride-sharing services? We propose a new mechanism to promote EV charging during hours of high renewable generation, and we introduce the concept of charge request, which is issued by a power utility company. Our mechanism is inspired by a game-theoretic approach where the power utility company proposes incentives and the ride-sharing platform assigns vehicles to both ride and charge requests; the bargaining mechanism leads to prices and EV assignments that are aligned with the notion of Nash equilibria. Numerical results show that it is possible to shift the EV charging during periods of high renewable generation and adapt to intermittent generation while minimizing the impact on the quality of service. The paper also investigates how the users' willingness to ride-share affects the charging strategy and the quality of service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big climate change data have become a pressing issue that organizations face with methods to analyze data generated from various data types. Moreover, storage, processing, and analysis of data generated from climate change activities are becoming very massive, and are challenging for the current algorithms to handle. Therefore, big data analytics methods are designed for significantly large amounts of data required to enhance seasonal change monitoring and understand and ascertain the health risks of climate change. In addition, analysis of climate change data would improve the allocation, and utilisation of natural resources. This paper provides an extensive discussion of big data analytic methods for climate data analysis and investigates how climate change and sustainability issues can be analyzed through these approaches. We further present the big data analytic methods, strengths, and weaknesses, and the essence of analyzing big climate change using these methods. The common datasets, implementation frameworks for climate change modeling, and future research directions were also presented to enhance the clarity of these compelling climate change analysis challenges. This big data analytics method is well-timed to solve the inherent issues of data analysis and easy realization of sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatic and geographic factors characterizing local conditions, as well as the ecological state of the external environment, have a direct effect on human health, morbidity, and life expectancy. The paper considers the basic concepts of medical ecology, a pathogenetic role of environmental atmospheric pollution in the development of environmentally induced and environmentally dependent diseases associated with exposure to meteorological factors. In addition to the major hygienic risk factors affecting the public health (a level of air, water, and soil pollution), the levels of acoustic and electromagnetic background, the type of human nutrition, architectural and planning conditions of human life are of significant importance. Global climate warming causes numerous environmental changes, primarily an increase in surface air temperature, which in turn entails global changes in weather conditions that lead to various weather anomalies. Human health is directly dependent on environmental conditions and a degree of adaptation to them. The paper highlights the issues of diagnosing environmentally induced diseases and measures to counteract their spread. Based on the system diagnosis using physiological indicators of human health and the integration of the adaptation and nosological approaches, a hardware-software complex has been developed and introduced into medical practice. Corrective technologies of regenerative medicine that are used for ecologically dependent pathologies are described. Their application in the process of the complex sanatorium and resort treatment is most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the shallow mineral resources are nearly depleted, the mining of deep resources has become an urgent problem to be studied. The increase in mine depth can lead to the increase of mine heat hazard, which is a critical concern for mining safety/occupational health and safety. However, there are limited review articles available regarding the prevention of mine heat hazard. To fill in this gap, a bibliometric analysis and knowledge mapping of the field of mine heat hazard prevention are presented in this paper. A total of 314 papers from the Web of Science (WOS) core collection database that published between January 1998 and July 2022 were analyzed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. China, South Africa, Poland, USA, and Australia are the top five countries in this field. The important journals are Applied Thermal Engineering, Applied Energy, Energies, and International Journal of Mining Science and Technology. In addition, the research focal points and two research fronts were identified and discussed. The knowledge base of mine heat hazard research focuses on mine cooling technology, energy efficiency optimization of cooling systems, thermodynamic theory, and occupational health. There are two research fronts. One is to use the numerical simulation method to study various problems such as simulate the performance of refrigeration systems and thermal comfort in mines. The second is to study the occupational health impact of climate change on miners. Therefore, this paper provides readers and academics with an overview of the intellectual structure and knowledge body that have been developed on the subject of mine heat hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics are polymer-based materials with carbon as their main framework. During degradation, they release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Additionally, environmental microplastics can enter plant tissues, triggering oxidative stress in plant cells, adversely affecting photosynthesis, metabolism, gene expression, and other growth parameters. This reduction in plant efficiency in sequestering and utilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide indirectly impacts global carbon cycling, exacerbating the global greenhouse effect. Furthermore, environmental microplastics significantly alter soil structure and the composition of microbial communities, affecting the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, thus indirectly promoting greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing research suggests a mutual reinforcement between microplastic pollution and global climate warming, where microplastic pollution exacerbates global climate warming, and the rise in global average temperature leads to the resuspension of microplastics in sediments, intensifying microplastic pollution in the environment. This article primarily focuses on the impacts of environmental microplastic pollution on different ecosystems and the relationship between microplastic pollution and global climate warming. It summarizes the effects of microplastic pollution on greenhouse gas emissions in marine, terrestrial, and atmospheric ecosystems, as well as the mechanisms by which microplastics and climate change affect ecosystem services. By delving into the intricate connection between microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, this paper aims to raise awareness of the climate change caused by microplastic pollution and calls for further research on the impacts of microplastics on ecosystems and global climate change, with the ultimate goal of protecting ecosystems and human health. Highlights: • MPs influence microbial communities, indirectly promoting GHG emissions. • MPs hinder plant photosynthesis, reducing CO2 sequestration efficiency. • MPs pollution and climate change interact and exacerbate each other. • Human intervention and regulation can mitigate the impact of MPs on global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, climate change is one of the most pressing issues affecting the human race. The health of the Kazakh people is significantly impacted by climate change, which has made Kazakhstan one of the most vulnerable nations in Central Asia. This study reviews the impact of climate change on population health in Kazakhstan and provides recommendations to address these issues. This review paper evaluated available evidence and resources, which included journal articles, country reports, World Bank reports, United Nations Development Program reports, and other findings and reports relevant to the issues of climate change and the quality of life of the Kazakh people. The impact of climate change on the country is becoming more pronounced. Floods, deterioration of water quality, melting of glaciers, and extremes of temperature are some of the direct impacts of climate change observed in the country. These changes were shown to affect the health of the population. Short conclusion: This review revealed mounting proof of how climate change is having an increasing impact on the lives of people in Kazakhstan. There is now an urgency to address the impact of climate change by implementing various mitigation and adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing land surface temperature (LST) is one of the major urban climatology problems arising in urban development. In this paper, the impact of vegetation and built-up areas on the LST and impact of LST on human health are assessed using the Landsat thermal data in Bartin, Turkey. The results show that there is a constant change in the share of vegetation and built-up areas due to rapid urbanization in Bartin. Strong positive correlation has been found between NDBI and LST while strong negative correlation has been found between NDVI and LST, suggesting their strong impacts on land surface temperatures. Similarly, a strong positive correlation has been observed between LST, sleep deprivation, and heat stress. This study provides precise information on effects of urbanization and man-made activities, which cause major changes in micro-climate and human health in the city. This study can assist decision-makers or planners to plan future developments sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Documenting trends in the health impacts of ambient temperature is key to supporting adaptation strategies to climate change. This paper explores changes in the temperature-related mortality in 18 French urban centers between 1970 and 2015. Method: A multicentric time-series design with time-varying distributed lag nonlinear models was adopted to model the shape of the relationship and assess temporal changes in risks and impacts. Results: The general shape of the temperature-mortality relationship did not change over time, except for an increasing risk at very low percentiles and a decreasing risk at very high percentiles. The relative risk at the 99.9th percentile compared to the 50th percentile of the 1970–2015 temperature distribution decreased from 2.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.95:2.79] in 1975 to 1.33 [95% CI: 1.14:1.55] in 2015. Between 1970 and 2015, 302,456 [95% CI: 292,723:311,392] deaths were attributable to non-optimal temperatures, corresponding to 5.5% [95% CI: 5.3:5.6] of total mortality. This burden decreased progressively, representing 7.2% [95% CI: 6.7:7.7] of total mortality in the 1970s to 3.4% [95% CI: 3.2:3.6] in the 2000s. However, the contribution of hot temperatures to this burden (higher than the 90th percentile) increased. Discussion: Despite the decreasing relative risk, the fraction of mortality attributable to extreme heat increased between 1970 and 2015, thus highlighting the need for proactive adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated disaster risk management in a changing climate is a key concern for disaster reduction and global sustainable development now and in the future. This study conducted descriptive statistical and bibliometric analysis of 488 articles on integrated disaster risk in a changing climate from 2008 to 2020 using Excel, CiteSpace, and Gephi. The research process of integrated disaster risk in a changing climate was divided into three periods, 2008–2010, 2011–2015, and 2016–2020, which is similar to the changing characteristic of the number of publications. Results showed that, first, although the number of papers was increasing exponentially, the number of publications in each period remained relatively small. Second, the main features of the cooperation network of authors across the world showed a small concentration of groups, large dispersion, and weak connections. Third, the literature focused on five key issues, including basic disaster theory research; the construction of databases; research on underlying concepts, relationships, determinants and influences of vulnerability, risk, adaptability and resilience; the construction of frameworks and models of integrated disaster risk; and impact analysis of integrated disaster risk assessment and governance in regard to the relationships and interactions among disasters, nature, society, and human behavior. Fourth, the priorities, foci, and frontiers of integrated disaster risk research were mainly reflected in five aspects, including disasters; climate change adaptation; climate change impacts; health, insurance, critical infrastructure, communities, and various frameworks; and research on key regions and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a thorough analysis of the scientific production in climate change and adaptation in Brazil. We conducted a bibliometric and bibliographic review to reveal and discuss how climate change research has been carried out. We compared a broader climate change research dataset with a more specific climate adaptation research dataset, to understand the main differences and convergence points, and how science conducted from a mitigation and adaptation perspective demonstrates potential to confront the climate change challenges and drivers in Brazil. Four main clusters of investigation within climate change were detected: (1) impacts on forest and plant development, (2) land use and ecology, (3) adaptation/governance, and (4) climate/atmospheric studies. Only about 5% of the total studies on climate change address adaptation, for which three main clusters of research were identified: (1) adaptation actions and policies; (2) urban environment, vulnerability, and health and (3) food and coastal impacts. Although there are strong research trends in climate change for the Amazon Forest, there was less evidence of studies concerning climate adaptation for this and other Brazilian biomes, smaller cities, rural and traditional communities, and poorer regions. Our results shed a light on the more commonly chosen research topics, their strongest points and potential gaps and trends. This can contribute to the scientific communication and implementation of climate actions in Brazil, and a better understanding of the climate science knowledge from the perspective of a middle-income country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explore the trends in the human health risks caused by air pollution and changing levels of weather and climate comfort on the territory of Russia in 2020–2050 under two climate change scenarios. Generally, the dynamics of risks is expected to be moderate. It will presumably be characterized by inter-scenario variability and dispersion by the country's climate zones. In certain areas, primarily in Siberia, very noticeable trends have been revealed. The paper shows a need for additional attention when planning the measures of adaptation to climate change in southern and central regions of European Russia, most of Western Siberia, the Magadan oblast and Kamchatka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Climate change is among the most renowned concerns of the current century, endangering the lives of millions of people worldwide. To comply with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), hospitals should be on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Although hospitals contribute to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases, they are also affected by the health consequences of climate change. Despite all the guidance provided, hospitals need more radical measures to confront climate change. The current study was carried out to examine the components of hospitals' adaptation to climate change and to review measures to confront climate change in hospitals. Method: This systematic review was designed and carried out in 2020. The required information was collected from international electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. Moreover, Iranian datasets such as Scientific Database (SID), Irandoc, Magiran, and IranMedex were reviewed. No restriction was considered in the methodology of the study. For the relevant thesis, the ProQuest database was also explored. The related sources were examined and the Snowball method was applied to find additional related studies. The research team also reviewed other accessible electronic resources, such as international guidelines and academic websites. The checklist of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI, 2017) was employed in order to evaluate the quality of the included papers. The studies published until June1, 2020, were included in the study. Results: Of 11,680 published documents in the initial search, the full-texts of 140 were read after evaluating the titles and abstracts, of which 114 were excluded due to lack of sufficient information related to countermeasures in hospitals. Finally, the full-texts of 26 studies were reviewed to extract the required components. Two strategies were found, including climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation, with 13 components including water, wastewater, energy, waste, green buildings, food, transportation, green purchasing policy, medicines, chemicals and toxins, technology, sustainable care models, and leadership in hospitals were identified as affecting these measures and strategies. Conclusion: Considering the significance of climate change and strategies to confront it as one of the current challenges and priorities in the world, it is necessary to develop a framework and model to reduce the effects of climate change and adapt to climate changes in hospitals and other health centers. The identification and classification of the measures and components, influencing hospital adaptability and solutions for reducing the climate change impacts could be the first stage in developing this strategy. This is because it is impossible to create this framework without identifying these factors and their mutual impacts at the first. In the present study, through a systematic review using a comprehensive approach, the related components were explored and divided into two categories, including measures to reduce the effects and measures to adapt to climate change. The results of this study can be useful in developing a comprehensive action model to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt hospitals to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is affecting ecological systems and human health in a profound manner. These articles cover many topics related to climate change, environmental impact, and human health and focus on the following aspects: For the ways climate change affects the environment, four papers studied water pollution caused by climate change and the ways climate change affect water quality and thus put forward corresponding countermeasures. The results showed that while climate change necessarily has an adverse effect on human health, climate change information stimulates residents' enthusiasm for reducing emissions, thus contributing positively to human health. [Extracted from the article]

The objectives of this study are to review available information on the association between ambient temperature and childhood asthma, and to elucidate the possible underlying mechanisms of this relationship. A systematic review was conducted based on the papers retrieved from four databases, including PubMed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. Papers examining the association of absolute temperature or temperature variation with childhood asthma published from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2016 were included. Thirteen papers have quantified the effect of absolute temperature on childhood asthma, and six papers have examined the effect of intra- or inter-day temperature variation on childhood asthma. All studies were conducted in urban areas. Aeroallergen sensitizations were only considered in the analyses of one study. Discrepancy existed in the significance of the relationship between absolute temperature and childhood asthma, and also in the shape of this relationship (i.e. linear or non-linear) and whether temperature effects were lagged. Increasing evidence is suggesting non-linear relationship between absolute temperature and childhood asthma. Future research should investigate the burden of childhood asthma specifically attributable to extreme temperatures and temperature variation using advanced statistical approach, particularly in rural areas, after properly considering aeroallergens and air pollution. Projecting future burden of childhood asthma under climate change scenarios is also warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human exposure to particulate matter (PM) is of great scientific interest due to its impact on both human health and the environment (climate change, reduced visibility, deterioration of archaeological sites, etc.). The aim of the current paper was to study the concentration of large-sized particulate matter (PM10) in relation to the season of the year. Measurements were performed with the help of a personal Button Sampler in three repeated cycles, namely summer, autumn, and winter, in order to obtain comparable results from three different seasons of the year. A total of 45 samples were collected, 27 of which were obtained from a peri-urban Pinus brutia forest and 18 from an adjacent urban area (9 and 6 samples in each repeated sampling cycle, respectively). Results obtained from both sampling areas show a significant increase in PM10 levels during the summer (8.86 mg m−3/24 h) in comparison with the autumn and winter concentrations (3.71 mg m−3/24 h and 4.12 mg m−3/24 h, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible spectral radiometric measurements from space, commonly referred to as ocean-colour measurements, provide a rich stream of information on ocean biota as well as on biological and ecosystem processes. The strength of the ocean-colour technology for observing marine life lies in its global reach, combined with its ability to sample the field at a variety of spatial and temporal scales that match the scales of the processes themselves. Another advantage lies in the growing length of the time series of ocean-colour-derived products, enabiling investigations into any long-term changes, if present. This paper presents an overview of the principles and applications of ocean-colour data. The concentration of chlorophyll-a, the major pigment present in phytoplankton–single-celled, free-floating plants that are present in the sunlit layers of the ocean–was the first, and remains the most common, biological variable derived from ocean-colour data. Over the years, the list of ocean-colour products have grown to encompass many measures of the marine ecosystem and its functions, including primary production, phenology and ecosystem structure. Applications that exploit the data are many and varied, and include ecosystem-based fisheries management, biogeochemical cycles in the ocean, ecosystem health and climate change. An integrated approach, incorporating other modes of ocean observations and models with satellite observations, is needed to investigate the mysteries of the marine ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensing and measuring meteorological and physiological parameters of humans, animals, and plants are necessary to understand the complex interactions that occur between atmospheric processes and the health of the living organisms. Advanced sensing technologies have provided both meteorological and biological data across increasingly vast spatial, spectral, temporal, and thematic scales. Information and communication technologies have reduced barriers to data dissemination, enabling the circulation of information across different jurisdictions and disciplines. Due to the advancement and rapid dissemination of these technologies, a review of the opportunities for sensing the health effects of weather and climate change is necessary. This paper provides such an overview by focusing on existing and emerging technologies and their opportunities and challenges for studying the health effects of weather and climate change on humans, animals, and plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper presents the history of the Climate and Human Health Commission at the International Society of Biometeorology after more than one decade since its creation. A brief history of the origins of the human biometeorology is revealed through some of the main research topics and publications of the founders of the society in this field. Secondly, it is presented as a brief review of the activities of the commission in the last 10 years, based on the reports that have periodically been submitted by members of the commission to the Bulletin of the society. A summary of the topics of interest on human biometeorology and the most frequent research topics are also described. Thirdly, the need of adapting human biometeorology contents, methods and techniques to a changing world is articulated according to some of the new environmental threats in the XXI century. Finally, a list of future actions and research lines collected through a form from members of the commission is presented. The paper concludes with the existence of great challenge for human biometeorology in order to transform biometeorological knowledge into specific services to improve the wellbeing of human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the lowest-lying island nation states in the world, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is vulnerable to sea level rise, flooding and the associated impacts on soil and water salinity. Persistent drought is further affecting agricultural production and access to drinking water, and heat stress is increasingly common. The number of Marshallese people residing in the USA has increased rapidly from 6650 in 2000 to an estimated 30,000 in 2018. While we know that climate change is already affecting the Marshall Islands and that there are significant migration flows, we do not know to what extent people already migrate because of climate change. This paper addresses this gap and presents findings from interdisciplinary fieldwork in the Marshall Islands and destination areas in the USA. The research team conducted a survey (N = 278), focus group discussions, expert interviews and a geo-spatial analysis of flood extent and migration rates to study the relationship between climatic events, ecosystem services and migration. The results show that respondents primarily cite education, health care, work and family visits as migration drivers, and only few mention climate impacts or environmental change. However, respondents do identify impacts of climate change on their livelihoods, health and safety, and the study finds significant correlations between climate impacts, trends in ecosystem services and migration propensities at household level. Furthermore, 62% of Marshallese respondents in the USA indicated that climate change affects their decision to return to Marshall Islands in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change harms people's health and ecosystems. Encouraging the public to adopt behaviors that help to combat climate change can, at the same time, contribute to efforts to control and solve related serious environmental problems. This study aims to ascertain the way in which the public perceives risks related to climate change and adopts behaviors to respond to the issue. Using city smog as an example, this study proposes a conceptual model that integrates the theory of planned behavior (TPB), smog knowledge and risk perception. It aims to elucidate determinants of smog-reduction behavior. Data were obtained through questionnaire surveys. The results confirm the relationships among the core variables of the TPB and risk perception. Firstly, they confirm that TPB is an effective model for predicting responses to city smog, and secondly, they show that risk perception is significantly positive in predicting attitude and behavioral intention. In addition, our analysis confirms that knowledge about smog is a positive antecedent variable in risk perception, attitude, and perceived behavioral control. The paper contributes to the extension of the TPB model and to the enrichment of its application in the context of city smog. It also has practical implications both for people experiencing city smog, and for authorities such as local governments and environmental organizations. Governments and organizations need to make efforts to spread information concerning the harmful effects of city smog, because in doing so they can strengthen people's intention to participate in smog-reduction behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the impact of climate variables on net primary productivity is crucial to evaluate the ecosystem health and the status of forest type response to climate change. The objective of this paper is (1) to estimate spatio-temporal patterns of net primary productivity (NPP) during 2001 to 2010 in a tropical deciduous forest based on the input variable dataset (i.e.meteorological and biophysical) derived from the remote sensing and other sources and (2) to investigate the effects of climate variables on NPP during 2001 to 2010. The study was carried out in Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary that forms a part of a tropical forest and is situated in Uttar Pradesh, India, along the Indo-Nepal border. Mean annual NPP was observed to be highest during 2007 with a value of 878 g C m−2 year−1 and 781.25 g C m−2 year−1 for sal and teak respectively. A decline in mean NPP during 2002–2003, 2005 and 2008–2010 could be attributed to drought, increased temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD). The time lag correlation analysis revealed precipitation as the major variables affecting NPP, whereas combination of temperature and VPD showed dominant effect on NPP as revealed by generalized linear modelling. The carbon gain in NPP in sal forest was observed to be marginal higher than that of teak plantation throughout the study period. The decrease in NPP was observed during 2010, pertaining to increased VPD. Contribution of different climatic variables through some link process was revealed in statistical analysis and clearly indicated the co-dominance of all the variables in explaining NPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change presents a substantial global threat to human health and wellbeing. Planetary health, an emerging field, provides a comprehensive framework to comprehend the intricate interplay between ecological stability, human health, and ecosystems, particularly within the context of climate change. This study investigates the planetary health perspective on climate change by exploring global knowledge. The Scopus database is used as the source of data. The analysis encompassed a performance evaluation aimed at scrutinizing both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Visualization techniques utilizing VOSviewer software were deployed to analyze collaboration patterns, co-citation links among prominent knowledge-sharing platforms, and key topics derived from keyword co-occurrence matrices. Additionally, using SciMAT software, the study conducted thematic evolution and intellectual analyses to identify both driving and emerging themes, while also examining coherence among different themes across various periods. The study also explores policy implications, and the relevance of COVID-19 in the context of planetary health and climate change. Through this analysis, 261 relevant publications are identified, with the United States being the leading contributor (90 documents; 34.5% of publications). At the institutional level, the Australian National University secured the top position, representing 4.6% of the total with 12 documents. The Lancet Planetary Health journal was the most prolific source, contributing 15 documents (5.7%). In terms of impact, The Lancet journal held a central position as the most cited source. The primary funding organization was the Wellcome Trust, based in the United Kingdom. Motor themes shaping the future of this field include vector-borne diseases, human demographics, informal settlements, air pollution, carbon footprint of animal-based foods, and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. The study underscores the significance of leveraging the momentum surrounding infectious diseases like COVID-19 and the impacts of climate change to advance planetary health concepts. Integration of the social sciences and enhanced multidisciplinary cooperation are crucial for progress. Additionally, increased funding for developing countries, and legislative empowerment are essential to foster further research. Article Highlights: Planetary health and climate change global knowledge is analyzed using performance analysis and visualization mapping. Stimulating collaboration to advance the principles of planetary health is fundamental for effectively combating climate change. Managing the socioeconomic determinants of equity and health deserves to be the top priority of climate change initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intersecting socio-demographic transformations and warming climates portend increasing worldwide heat exposures and health sequelae. Cooling adaptation via air conditioning (AC) is effective, but energy-intensive and constrained by household-level differences in income and adaptive capacity. Using statistical models trained on a large multi-country household survey dataset (n = 673,215), we project AC adoption and energy use to mid-century at fine spatial resolution worldwide. Globally, the share of households with residential AC could grow from 27% to 41% (range of scenarios assessed: 33-48%), implying up to a doubling of residential cooling electricity consumption, from 1220 to 1940 (scenarios range: 1590-2377) terawatt-hours yr.−1, emitting between 590 and 1,365 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e). AC access and utilization will remain highly unequal within and across countries and income groups, with significant regressive impacts. Up to 4 billion people may lack air-conditioning in 2050. Our global gridded projections facilitate incorporation of AC's vulnerability, health, and decarbonization effects into integrated assessments of climate change. One quarter of households globally owns air-conditioning, but this could reach 41% by 2050. Yet, access and use will remain highly unequal. Electricity demand for air-conditioning will double, potentially increasing global CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, 10 years had passed when the creation of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was completed. One should remember that when completing the work on the UTCI, its creators produced a methodological framework covering: the method for calculating the UTCI, the preparation of sets of input data and the basis for interpreting UTCI values, including references to physiological processes occurring in the human body. Low UTCI values were found in the two subtropical locations for the lower threshold of the thermal comfort as compared with the original threshold. [Extracted from the article]

Heatwaves are divided between moderate, more common heatwaves and rare “high-mortality” heatwaves that have extremely large health effects per day, which we define as heatwaves with a 20 % or higher increase in mortality risk. Better projections of the expected frequency of and exposure to these separate types of heatwaves could help communities optimize heat mitigation and response plans and gauge the potential benefits of limiting climate change. Whether a heatwave is high-mortality or moderate could depend on multiple heatwave characteristics, including intensity, length, and timing. We created heatwave classification models using a heatwave training dataset created using recent (1987–2005) health and weather data from 82 large US urban communities. We built twenty potential classification models and used Monte Carlo cross-validations to evaluate these models. We ultimately identified several models that can adequately classify high-mortality heatwaves. These models can be used to project future trends in high-mortality heatwaves under different scenarios of a changing future (e.g., climate change, population change). Further, these models are novel in the way they allow exploration of different scenarios of adaptation to heat, as they include, as predictive variables, heatwave characteristics that are measured relative to a community’s temperature distribution, allowing different adaptation scenarios to be explored by selecting alternative community temperature distributions. The three selected models have been placed on GitHub for use by other researchers, and we use them in a companion paper to project trends in high-mortality heatwaves under different climate, population, and adaptation scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, caused by both natural and human activities, poses significant threats to global health, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental disruptions. The One Health concept, emphasizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, is crucial in addressing these challenges. Climate change is linked to the emergence and resurgence of infectious diseases, resulting in substantial economic losses worldwide due to outbreaks, floods, and disrupted trade, among other factors. Therefore, it is crucial to adapt to this changing climate to safeguard One Health. By implementing a One Health approach, we can effectively address the consequences of climate change and make substantial contributions to health and food safety. This approach also holds the potential to mitigate economic losses, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Additionally, in the future, research interventions based on the One Health framework may offer sustainable solutions to combat climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health and climate change mitigation are strongly related to the efficiency of a unified vehicle-health system. To date, however, the existing DEA studies have not incorporated a robust set of transportation and public health indicators to evaluate the performance of the vehicle-health system. Our approach maps the relationship between transportation and health indicators in a network DEA framework. In addition, this study develops a new methodological framework for identifying stage priorities for decision-makers, peer evaluation and an understanding of the effects of policy in a comprehensive vehicle-health production system. This study empirically evaluates indicators of vehicle use and their effects on public health for each US state. The main conclusions are summarized: First, the network DEA and cross-efficiency network DEA models have significant methodological differences, highlighting the importance of model selection for empirical analysis. Second, US states exhibit enormous disparities in their prior strategies. The relative weights of the vehicle use stage and health outcomes stage confirm differing levels of importance attached to either stage. Third, group heterogeneity and technology inequality are observed among US states. Both intra-group and inter-group inequalities drive technology inequality. Moreover, considerable heterogeneity exists in the intra-group decomposition of the overall efficiency Theil index among the three network DEA models. Finally, promoting a safe and integrated transportation network improves vehicle-health performance, implying that strategic transportation policies hold significant potential for improving public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) and weather has been described across several studies showing multiple conflicting results. In this paper, we aim to conduct a meta-analysis to further clarify this association, as well as to find the potential sources of heterogeneity. PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched from inception through 2015, for articles analyzing the correlation between the incidence of CVA and temperature. A pooled effect size (ES) was estimated using random effects model and expressed as absolute values. Subgroup analyses by type of CVA were also performed. Heterogeneity and influence of covariates-including geographic latitude of the study site, male percentage, average temperature, and time interval-were assessed by meta-regression analysis. Twenty-six articles underwent full data extraction and scoring. A total of 19,736 subjects with CVA from 12 different countries were included and grouped as ischemic strokes (IS; n = 14,199), intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH; n = 3798), and subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH; n = 1739). Lower ambient temperature was significantly associated with increase in incidence of overall CVA when using unadjusted (pooled ES = 0.23, P < 0.001) and adjusted data (pooled ES = 0.03, P = 0.003). Subgroup analyses showed that lower temperature has higher impact on the incidence of ICH (pooled ES = 0.34, P < 0.001), than that of IS (pooled ES = 0.22, P < 0.001) and SAH (pooled ES = 0.11, P = 0.012). In meta-regression analysis, the geographic latitude of the study site was the most influencing factor on this association ( Z-score = 8.68). Synthesis of the existing data provides evidence supporting that a lower ambient temperature increases the incidence of CVA. Further population-based studies conducted at negative latitudes are needed to clarify the influence of this factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a serious environmental issue appearing in China. As a public service institution operating around the clock, the negative impact of hospitals on the environment is evident, promoting their workers' pro-environmental behavior (PEB) through increasing climate change health risk perception (CHRP) is an effective method to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. This study investigates how CHRP shapes pro-environmental attitude (PEA), pro-environmental intention (PEI), and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) among hospital workers. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine the chain of causation from CHRP to PEB among hospital workers. The result shows that CHRP positively affects PEA and PEI, and PEI positively affects their PEB. In addition, although CHRP has no significant direct effect on PEB, it can play a crucial indirect effect through the mediating role of PEI. Moreover, the result of multiple regression shows that there are significant differences regarding PEA, PEI, and PEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A worldwide increase in the prevalence of coral diseases and mortality has been linked to ocean warming due to changes in coral-associated bacterial communities, pathogen virulence, and immune system function. In the Mediterranean basin, the worrying upward temperature trend has already caused recurrent mass mortality events in recent decades. To evaluate how elevated seawater temperatures affect the immune response of a thermophilic coral species, colonies of Astroides calycularis were exposed to environmental (23 °C) or elevated (28 °C) temperatures, and subsequently challenged with bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Using immunolabeling with specific antibodies, we detected the production of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), molecules involved in coral immune responses, and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) activity, involved in general responses to thermal stress. A histological approach allowed us to characterize the tissue sites of activation (epithelium and/or gastroderm) under different experimental conditions. The activity patterns of the examined markers after 6 h of LPS stimulation revealed an up-modulation at environmental temperature. Under warmer conditions plus LPS-challenge, TLR4-NF-kB activation was almost completely suppressed, while constituent elevated values were recorded under thermal stress only. An HSP70 up-regulation appeared in both treatments at elevated temperature, with a significantly higher activation in LPS-challenge colonies. Such an approach is useful for further understanding the molecular pathogen-defense mechanisms in corals in order to disentangle the complex interactive effects on the health of these ecologically relevant organisms related to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial diversity has been extensively explored in reef-building corals. However, the functional roles of coral-associated microorganisms remain poorly elucidated. Here, we recover 191 bacterial and 10 archaeal metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the coral Acropora kenti (formerly A. tenuis) and adjacent seawater, to identify microbial functions and metabolic interactions within the holobiont. We show that 82 MAGs were specific to the A. kenti holobiont, including members of the Pseudomonadota, Bacteroidota, and Desulfobacterota. A. kenti-specific MAGs displayed significant differences in their genomic features and functional potential relative to seawater-specific MAGs, with a higher prevalence of genes involved in host immune system evasion, nitrogen and carbon fixation, and synthesis of five essential B-vitamins. We find a diversity of A. kenti-specific MAGs encode the biosynthesis of essential amino acids, such as tryptophan, histidine, and lysine, which cannot be de novo synthesised by the host or Symbiodiniaceae. Across a water quality gradient spanning 2° of latitude, A. kenti microbial community composition is correlated to increased temperature and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, with corresponding enrichment in molecular chaperones, nitrate reductases, and a heat-shock protein. We reveal mechanisms of A. kenti-microbiome-symbiosis on the Great Barrier Reef, highlighting the interactions underpinning the health of this keystone holobiont. This study provides insights into the functional roles of microbial symbionts within the reef-building coral Acropora kenti. The findings reveal molecular mechanisms underpinning coral health and adaptation to local environmental stressors, which may support host resilience in the face of anthropogenic climate change and pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stringent measures, such as lockdowns, were implemented to curb the virus's spread, leading to reduced pollution levels and environmental improvements at various geographic scales, from cities to regions and nations. Such positive effects have been found and reported for regional scales, but not for a global scale till nowadays. This study aims to fill the gap by uncovering the modifications of global spatiotemporal eco-environmental vulnerability patterns between pre-pandemic (2016) and amid-pandemic (2020) periods. By analyzing various factors influencing the eco-environmental health or geo-health, such as human activities, climate change, and ecological dynamics, we seek to understand the intricate relationships and dynamics within these influential factors. We examined six categories of environmental vulnerability, which encompassed socioeconomics, land resources, natural hazards, hydrometeorology, and topography, using a five-dimensional stressor framework. Our analysis revealed a significant decrease in vulnerability levels across all categories, except for the very low level increased by 78.5% globally. These findings emphasize the detrimental impact of human activities on the global environment. They underscore the urgency of implementing spatial management strategies that prioritize sustainable geo-health development and foster a more resilient Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic climate change has amplified human thermal discomfort in urban environments. Despite the considerable risks posed to public health, there is a lack of comprehensive research, evaluating the spatiotemporal changes in human thermal discomfort and its characteristics in hot-hyper arid regions, such as the Arabian Peninsula (AP). The current study analyzes spatiotemporal changes in human thermal discomfort categories and their characteristics in AP, using the newly developed high-resolution gridded ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT) dataset for the period 1979–2022. In addition, the study assesses the interplay between the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices for the study period. The results reveal a significant increase in human thermal discomfort and its characteristics, with higher spatial variability in the AP region. The major urban centers in the southwestern, central, and southeastern parts of AP have experienced significant increases in human thermal discomfort (0.4–0.8 °C), with higher frequency and intensity of thermal stress during the study period. The temporal distribution demonstrates a linear increase in UTCI indices and their frequencies and intensities, particularly from 1998 onward, signifying a transition towards a hotter climate characterized by frequent, intense, and prolonged heat stress conditions. Moreover, the UTCI and ENSO indices exhibit a dipole pattern of correlation with a positive (negative) pattern in the southwestern (eastern parts) of AP. The study's findings suggest that policymakers and urban planners need to prioritize public health and well-being in AP's urban areas, especially for vulnerable groups, by implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and carefully designing future cities to mitigate the effects of heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic literature on personal experiences of climate-induced wellbeing erosion (often conceptualised as 'non-economic losses and damages') is still limited. This represents a serious climate policy gap that hinders support for marginalised people across the world including Indigenous People. Lately, we have seen a rapid growth in empirical studies exploring linkages between climate change and mental health among Indigenous Inuit in Canada. However, its association with human (im)mobility remains unexplored. This review article brings together the empirical evidence of Inuit experiences and perceptions of climate-related wellbeing loss and (im)mobility while providing climate policy with guidance for appropriate action. The systematic review investigates how Inuit in Arctic Canada felt that climatic changes impacted their (im)mobility and mental health while putting these feelings into a wider context of colonial violence, forced child removal, the residential schools, and other systematic human rights abuses. Twelve electronic databases (four specific to Arctic research) were searched for English and French, peer reviewed, qualitative studies published between 2000 and 2021. Fifteen selected articles were analysed using NVivo and thematic narrative analysis from a climate-violence-health nexus systems approach. Three overarching climate-related wellbeing loss themes, all strongly intertwined with feelings of immobility, emerged from the literature namely 'identity and cultural loss', 'land connection as a source of healing', and 'changing environment triggering emotional distress'. The narratives circled around Inuit land connection and how climate-induced temporary (im)mobility interrupted this relationship. Climatic changes isolated Inuit away from the land and cut off their ability to partake in land activities. This strongly eroded Inuit wellbeing, expressed through distress, anxiety, depression, social tension, suicide ideation and deep feelings of cultural loss. The findings showed how Inuit mental health strongly depend on a sustained connection to the land. Further empirical research among other Indigenous People or nomadic groups on wellbeing loss and climate-induced involuntary immobility is urgently needed. Future research should particularly explore how such mental health impacts tie into past and present (post)colonial traumas and current suicide occurrences. This will help climate policy, research, and adaptation planning better prepare and propose more contextually and culturally appropriate health actions in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare systems (HSs) provide essential services to populations yet require a large amount of energy to perform duties and tasks. Specifically, 4.4% of global net carbon emissions can be attributed precisely to the activities of HSs. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the targets of zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050, set by the Paris Agreement, will be met without rethinking the role and impact of HSs towards climate change. Here we summarize the available literature on CO2 emissions depending on direct and indirect Hss activities. We show that the number of studies addressing this topic is still very limited and that most of the emissions derive from the supply chain HSs rely on to perform their tasks. Furthermore, we highlight how this topic is addressed unevenly among countries. Indeed, we found that less economically developed countries are less represented in the literature on this topic and that, even in economically developed countries, most of the studies come from English-speaking countries. In the discussion, we stress that health workers and policymakers should pay more attention to this issue in order to tackle climate change and related health issues, following the example of few virtuous countries. Finally, some potential impact mitigation strategies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vulnerability to the health impacts of climate change will be shaped by the existing burden of ill- health and is expected to be highest in poor and socio-economically marginalized populations. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is considered a highly vulnerable region. This paper analyses the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of rural Bakiga communities in southwestern Uganda to climate-sensitive health risks. The objectives were threefold: i) identify key climate-sensitive, community-identified health priorities; ii) describe and characterize determinants of sensitivity to these health priorities at the individual, community and regional levels; and iii) assess the adaptive capacity of Bakiga. Data collection employed a combination of individual and key informant interviews, biographies, future storylines, and Photovoice. Three key health risks were identified by the study communities (malaria, food insecurity, and gastrointestinal illnesses) - all affected by local climatic and environmental conditions, livelihoods, land use changes, and socio-economic conditions. Adaptation within these communities is dependent on their capacity to reduce sensitivities to identified health challenges among the potential of increasing exposures. Crop diversification, reducing deforestation, expanding of livestock rearing, transfer of traditional knowledge, and access to affordable health services are among potential strategies identified. We demonstrate significant existing vulnerabilities to present day climate-related health risks and highlight the importance of non-climatic processes and local conditions in creating sensitivity to health risks. Our place-based understanding is useful to inform interventions or policies aimed to reduce exposure and sensitivity and support adaptive capacity as the conditions these communities face are consistent with many other sub-Saharan African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper postulates the impact of coronavirus on Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies and resilience to the pandemic. Relief measures instituted by World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help in the prevention, detection and treatment of coronavirus amidst SSA non-monetary measures and business support interventions are highlighted. The underlying economic challenges likely to impede WBG and IMF relief measures in SSA such as health infrastructure and resource deficiency, unsustainable high debt levels and drought effects due to climate change are analysed. Ranking the inadequate doctor-to-population ratio from 2015 to 2017, SSA ratio stood at less than 1 per 1000 population recommended World Health Organisation standard. On the credit front, other creditors such as China have contributed to prevailing economic challenges as China Official Development Assistance (ODA) to SSA debt ratio is depicted at 55% in 2016 from a low ratio of 17% in 2009. The economic challenges are further buttressed by estimated monthly tourism sector loss of US$8.8 billion per month for SSA countries during the pandemic. SSA self-employed informal sector that accounts for 76% (International Labour Organisation 2018) is equally affected amid lockdowns, business losses, closures and job losses. Economic growth is forecasted to drop to 1.8%, from a previous estimate of 3.2% according to United Nations Economic Commission (2020) due to a trade fall with developed and emerging markets. Recovery is aligned to good resilience in inherent cyber risk, oil intensity and urbanisation rate and policies to enhance production and the agriculture sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study quantifies the impact of the Dutch cash payment system on the environment and on climate change using a life cycle assessment (LCA). It examines both the impact of coins and of banknotes. In addition, it identifies areas within the cash payment system where the impact on the environment and on the climate can be reduced. Methods: The ReCiPe endpoint (H) impact method was used for this LCA. The cash payment system has been divided into five subsystems: the production of banknotes, the production of coins, the operation phase, the end of life of banknotes and the end of life of coins. Two functional units were used: (1) cumulative cash payments in the Netherlands in 2015 and (2) the average single cash payment in the Netherlands in 2015. Input data for all processes within each subsystem was collected through interviews and literature study. Ten key companies and authorities in the cash payment chain contributed data, i.e. the Dutch central bank, the Royal Dutch Mint, a commercial bank, a cash logistic service provider, two cash-in-transit companies, two printing works, an ATM manufacturer and a municipal waste incinerator. Results and discussion: The environmental impact of the Dutch cash payment system in 2015 was 2.42 MPt (expressed in eco points) and its global warming potential (GWP) was 19 million kg CO2 equivalents (CO2e). For an average single cash transaction, the environmental impact was 654 μPt and the GWP was 5.1 g CO2e. The operation phase (e.g. energy use of ATMs, transport of banknotes and coins) (64%) and coin production phase (31%) had the largest impact on the environment, while the operation phase also had the largest impact on climate change human health (89%) and climate change ecosystems (56%). Finally, scenario analysis shows that reductions of the environmental impact (47%) and the impact on climate change (50%) could be achieved by implementing a number of measures, namely reducing the number of ATMs, stimulating the use of renewable energy in ATMs, introducing hybrid trucks for cash transport and matching coins with other countries in the euro area. Conclusions: This is the first study that investigates the environmental impact and GWP of the cash payment system in the Netherlands, by taking both the impact of banknotes and coins into account. The total environmental impact of cash payments in 2015 was 2.42 MPt and their GWP was 19 million kg CO2e. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigation reduces crop vulnerability to drought and heat stress and thus is a promising climate change adaptation strategy. However, irrigation also produces greenhouse gas emissions through pump energy use. To assess potential conflicts between adaptive irrigation expansion and agricultural emissions mitigation efforts, we calculated county-level emissions from irrigation energy use in the US using fuel expenditures, prices, and emissions factors. Irrigation pump energy use produced 12.6 million metric tonnes CO2e in the US in 2018 (90% CI: 10.4, 15.0), predominantly attributable to groundwater pumping. Groundwater reliance, irrigated area extent, water demand, fuel choice, and electrical grid emissions intensity drove spatial heterogeneity in emissions. Due to heavy reliance on electrical pumps, projected reductions in electrical grid emissions intensity are estimated to reduce pumping emissions by 46% by 2050, with further reductions possible through pump electrification. Quantification of irrigation-related emissions will enable targeted emissions reduction efforts and climate-smart irrigation expansion. This study demonstrates the energy use of US pump irrigation produced 12.6 million tonnes CO2e in 2018, with spatial variability modulated by water source and fuel choice. These county-level estimates can inform strategic irrigation expansion and emissions reduction efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is already impacting children's health in a variety of ways. Indian children are among the most severely affected; they are experiencing respiratory illnesses from air pollution, heat-related illnesses, malnutrition, vector- and water-borne diseases; and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder from weather disasters. There is a need to increase awareness and capacity building among paediatricians for understanding the impact of climate change on the health of children and educating parents about preventive measures. Detailed environmental history taking will help to identify risk factors. To address climate change issues, professional paediatric associations should increase their advocacy with government agencies. It is essential to ask policymakers to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the burning of coal and other fossil fuels and moving to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind will reduce India's carbon emissions and decrease environmental illness among children. The pediatricians of India should declare that climate change is a child health emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are facing threats to their livelihoods including climate change, unsustainable farming practices, increasing water scarcity, and crop raiding herbivores, among other challenges. How demographic, economic, and social factors impact farmers' attitudes and responses to such threats and the relationship to conservation initiatives remains an underexplored topic. With the aim of informing policy and management priorities locally, but with broad applications, we developed a set of a priori hypotheses related to the impacts of livelihood threats and alternatives for farmers. To assess these hypotheses, we surveyed 206 farmers across 6 villages in the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor of Kenya. Most respondents believed that climate change had negatively affected their lives and a third of respondents had not been exposed to alternative crop types. However, sociodemographic factors were poor predictors of farmer beliefs and knowledge, suggesting a homogeneity of views. Nearly half (48%) of respondents preferred to continue farming despite other possible means of income, potentially indicating a strong sense of place. Survey questions revealed other disparities such as 55% of respondents had no formal farm training outside of school, and most had never visited the nearby national parks. Compared to other studies, an above average belief in the benefits of wildlife was notable across the villages. Our findings can inform programs that work with local farmers to create specific management priorities that assist stakeholders in building resilience to threatened natural resources and increase food security which could bolster support of conservation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on natural hazards in the recent decades is driven by advent of new tools and technologies for risk assessment, management and mitigation measures. We thank Springer and editorial staff of Natural Hazards for the invitation to serve as the Guest Editors for this Special Issue of Natural Hazards: Climate Change and Coastal Vulnerability. Guest Editors: U. C. Mohanty Prasad K. Bhaskaran M. Mohapatra Sarat Chandra Sahu Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss articles in the issue on the topic of the Benefits of Reduced Anthropogenic Climate ChangE (BRACE) project including climate system outcomes, extreme weather events, and health impacts of climatic changes.

Precipitation is the major input of the hydrological cycle in tropical regions. Changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation should be investigated in order to provide in-time information for both water and land use planning. Climate and land use changes have been influencing modification in the water cycle, demanding adaptations and increasing the vulnerability of water-dependent systems. This study investigated spatial and temporal changes in precipitation patterns in the Paranapanema River Basin (PPRB), Brazil. The PPRB region is an important agricultural and hydroelectric power generation hub and has been suffering from water crises in recent years, and more intensely in the last 5–10 years. The analysis used remote sensing precipitations data from September 2000 to August 2021 (summing up twenty-one hydrological years) at 0.1° resolution. Exploratory Spatial and Temporal Data Analysis (ESTDA) were applied to verify spatial local autocorrelation and hot/cold spots clusters, and temporal trends, homogeneity, and change points in the time series at Hydrological Planning Unit (HPU) scale level. The significant results were discussed based on statistical tests and land use cover change data. There is a strong presence of precipitation spatial patterns in the PPRB. Also, the PPRB presented modifications in the precipitation regime over the analyzed period, with significant change points around 2015—2017. Further monitoring is recommended in order to confirm these results in the long term, however, the provided information can already be used as an award to local and regional water bodies installed in the river basin, supporting informative water management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxis pose a higher threat to global climate change and human health through air emissions. However, the evidence on this topic is scarce, especially, in developing countries. Therefore, this study conducted estimation of fuel consumption (FC) and emission inventories on Tabriz taxi fleet (TTF), Iran. A structured questionnaire to obtain operational data of TTF, municipality organizations, and literature review were used as data sources. Then modeling was used to estimate fuel consumption ratio (FCR), emission factors (EFs), annual FC, and emissions of TTF using uncertainty analysis. Also, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic period was considered on the studied parameters. The results showed that TTF have high FCRs of 18.68 L/100 km (95% CI=17.67–19.69 L/100 km), which are not affected by age or mileage of taxis, significantly. The estimated EFs for TTF are higher than Euro standards, but the differences are not significant. However, it is critical as can be an indication of inefficiency of periodic regulatory technical inspection tests for TTF. COVID-19 pandemic caused significant decrease in annual total FC and emissions (9.03–15.6%), but significant increase in EFs of per-passenger-kilometer traveled (47.9–57.3%). Annual vehicle-kilometer-traveled by TTF and the estimated EFs for gasoline-compressed natural gas bi-fueled TTF are the main influential parameters in the variability of annual FC and emission levels. More studies on sustainable FC and emissions mitigation strategies are needed for TTF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Projecting future streamflow variation or the hydrological impact of climate change plays a pivotal role in the sustainable implication of planning water resources management. Therefore, this study predicts the potential of climate change's impact on hydrological components in the Upper Awash Basin (UAB). The study applied a statistical downscaling model (SDSM) to generate future high-resolution climate data from the climate model output of the Canadian Second Generation Earth System Model (CanESM2) and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) under the representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios. To analyze the trend of future rainfall and temperature, non-parametric Mann-Kendall, Modified Mann-Kendall tests, Sen's slope estimator, and changing point (Pettit) tests were used. The output of downscaled climate data is used as input to a calibrated and validated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (QSWAT) model to assess the impact of future climate change on UAB hydrology. Results: The results show that annual rainfall and temperature are significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the UAB under RCP4.5 and 8.5 for the model ensemble mean for both short- and long-term scenarios. The change in the rainfall, the maximum and minimum temperature is mostly visible in the second period (the 2060s). Climate change is likely to cause persistent decreases in surface runoff (SUR_Q) and increases in actual evapotranspiration (ET) under all climate scenarios in the three periods. Reduction in SUR_Q despite an increase in rainfall could be due to an increment in both temperature and ET. The study also identified inconsistent seasonal changes in projected future precipitation that considerably impact overall climatic conditions. Conclusions: This research is essential to develop an interdisciplinary approach that integrates environmental policies for the coherent use and management of water resources for future climate change and ecological protection in the basin, including other similar basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care accounts for almost 10% of the United States' greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for a loss of 470,000 disability-adjusted life years based on the health effects of climate change. Telemedicine has the potential to decrease health care's carbon footprint by reducing patient travel and clinic-related emissions. At our institution, telemedicine visits for evaluation of benign foregut disease were implemented for patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to estimate the environmental impact of telemedicine usage for these clinic encounters. Methods: We used life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for an in-person and a telemedicine visit. For in-person visits, travel distances to clinic were retrospectively assessed from 2020 visits as a representative sample, and prospective data were gathered on materials and processes related to in-person clinic visits. Prospective data on the length of telemedicine encounters were collected and environmental impact was calculated for equipment and internet usage. Upper and lower bounds scenarios for emissions were generated for each type of visit. Results: For in-person visits, 145 patient travel distances were recorded with a median [IQR] distance travel distance of 29.5 [13.7, 85.1] miles resulting in 38.22–39.61 carbon dioxide equivalents (kgCO2-eq) emitted. For telemedicine visits, the mean (SD) visit time was 40.6 (17.1) min. Telemedicine GHG emissions ranged from 2.26 to 2.99 kgCO2-eq depending on the device used. An in-person visit resulted in 25 times more GHG emissions compared to a telemedicine visit (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Telemedicine has the potential to decrease health care's carbon footprint. Policy changes to facilitate telemedicine use are needed, as well as increased awareness of potential disparities of and barriers to telemedicine use. Moving toward telemedicine preoperative evaluations in appropriate surgical populations is a purposeful step toward actively addressing our role in health care's large carbon footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic NO 2 concentrations cause climate change and human health issues. Previous studies have focused on the contribution of traffic factors to NO 2 emissions but have ignored the spatially varying impact of public transport supply and demand on high-resolution NO 2 concentrations. This study first applies a two-stage interpolation model to generate a high-resolution urban NO 2 concentration map originating from satellite measurement products. Then, we formulate 12 explanatory indicators derived from a fusion of massive big geo-data including smart card data and point of interest information, to represent the specific degree of public transport supply and citizens' demand. Furthermore, a geographically weighted regression is applied to quantify the spatial variation in the effect of these indicators on the urban NO 2 concentrations. The result shows that public transportation coverage, frequency, and capabilities as public transport supply indicators in metropolitan and suburban areas have a two-way influence on the NO 2 emissions. However, among public transport demand indicators, the economic level has a significant positive impact in most areas. Our findings can provide policy implications for public transportation system optimization and air quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child growth failure, as indicated by low height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), is an important metric of health, social inequality, and food insecurity. Understanding the environmental pathways to this outcome can provide insight into how to prevent it. While other studies have examined the environmental determinants of HAZ, there is no agreed upon best practices approach to measure the environmental context of this outcome. From this literature, we derive a large set of potential environmental predictors and specifications including temperature and precipitation levels, anomalies, and counts as well as vegetation anomalies and trends, which we include using linear, nonlinear, and interactive specifications. We compare these measures and specifications using four rounds of DHS survey data from Burkina Faso and a large set of fixed effects regression models. We focus on exposures from the time of conception through the second year of life and rely on joint hypothesis tests and goodness-of-fit measures to determine which approach best explains HAZ. Our analysis reveals that nonlinear and interactive transformations of climate anomalies, as opposed to climate levels or vegetation indices, provide the best explanation of child growth failure. These results underline the complex and nonlinear pathways through which climate change affects child health and should motivate climate-health researchers to more broadly adopt measures and specifications that capture these pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]