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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]

Climate change constitutes a complex challenge posing an urgent threat to our planet and life and creating an entirely different way of conceptualising the world and our chances to provide safe food within it. There are currently numerous studies dealing with the potential effect of increased temperature, extreme weather events and cascading events on food safety and subsequently human health. In contrast to food safety, the available data on the impact of climate change on food quality, including food spoilage, are very limited. This paper presents an overview of the potential impact of climate change on both food safety and microbial spoilage at various stages of the food chain. Among the different hazards related to climate change, mycotoxin and marine biotoxin contamination, environmental residuals derived from various anthropogenic activities and zoonosis diseases are identified as climatic-driven emerging risks to human life and discussed further in this paper. Global warming is projected to affect all microorganisms, including spoilage bacteria and fungi. Hence, this paper also discusses the potential increased risk of microbial spoilage for bulk dried foods and non-refrigerated processed foods which could be high susceptible to climate change in relation to growth of spoilage organisms. The paper concludes that climate change requires multidisciplinary approaches to gain in-depth knowledge and identify potential emerging risks. In addition, this paper goes beyond food safety and addresses an overlooked aspect of climate change, namely the microbiological spoilage of foods that may require a high level of preparedness by both the food industry and policy makers. • Τhe potential impact of climate change on food safety and food spoilage is reviewed. • The most important climatic-driven emerging risks are discussed. • Climate change may promote pathogens proliferation and foodborne diseases outbreaks. • Spoilage bacteria and fungi are expected to be affected due to climate change. • Non-refrigerated foods are the most susceptible to spoilage due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, mountain environments have undergone substantial climate warming and associated environmental and socio-economic changes. Although past studies have alluded to recent climate change in the Lesotho Highlands, these have largely lacked scientifically based evidence for assessing actual climate change. This paper thus aims to establish (a) instrumental-based changes in rainfall and temperature; and (b) people's views about the contemporary and past weather, and memories of past extreme weather events, in Lesotho. This was achieved through undertaking 60 interviews across 42 villages in 2008, and then comparing outcomes with (a) instrumental climate records from Mohale's Hoek and Mokhotlong; and (b) documentary-based evidence of past severe snowfalls. While there is good agreement between people's views and instrumental records for recent trends in summer temperature and spring rainfall, there is disagreement in winter temperature and annual rainfall trends. Interviewees demonstrate remarkably accurate remembrance of prominent snowfalls since 1930. A key outcome is that the "lived climatic experience" and thus views about "the weather" are determined not only by actual climate patterns and trends in Lesotho, but also by personal frames of reference, prominent weather-related experiences and changes in personal circumstances that impact on weather-related coping capacity and comfort levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jeju Island, South Korea is a biodiversity hotspot, but the vulnerability of Jeju Island fauna to climate change has not been thoroughly investigated. In this paper, we tested the adaptability of the Korean large brown frog Rana uenoi to future climate change. While increased temperatures did not affect the hatchability of frog eggs, hatched tadpoles in greenhouse treatment with less exposure to sunlight (less maximum temperature) were significantly (14%) shorter in length after three weeks of growth, indicating increased temperature of early season helps growth of tadpoles. However, right after three weeks, all tadpoles in a higher-temperature treatment (outside) died after the experiment logged a maximum temperature of 34.3°C. In the field, the average temperature of puddles without tadpoles (puddles in the middle of the rivulet with all day exposure to sunlight) was 33.2°C. During an indoor temperature elevation experiment, tadpoles suddenly died at 32.4°C. Therefore, the expected maximum survivable temperature for R. uenoi is around 32°C. Our results therefore suggest that R. uenoi tadpoles are vulnerable to elevated temperatures and could suffer mortality from climate change. Climate change will continue to cause extreme weather events like this (sudden elevation of temperature in spring), and frogs, especially tadpoles with restricted movement, will be particularly vulnerable to these events. Identifying how adaptable these amphibian species are to the weather events predicted by future climate change scenarios will be key for their conservation on Jeju Island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As concerns around climate change and global warming intensify, extreme weather events such as heavy rain, blizzards, and smog-induced haze have greatly impacted the commuting travel mode selection of urban residents. Such behavioral shifts have in turn led to changes of the carbon emissions generated from these residents. This paper constructs a "extreme weather (W)–travel behavior (B)–carbon emissions (C)" research framework. Using a multiple logistic regression model, the transportation mode shift model, and the econometric model of urban resident's travel behavior under the influence of extreme weather conditions were constructed. The marginal effects of weather on residents' commuter behavior, through the use of transportation type and distance of travel were also obtained. The study found that the overall carbon dioxide emission levels of daily commuting has gradually decreased due to the influence of extreme weather. However, as some travelers still adopted high-emission commuting modes through the use of taxis or ride-sharing services, there was still a slight increase in CCDE levels in certain extreme weather contexts. In particular, when haze was prevalent, vehicle restriction policies only reduced CCDE by 2.18%, while the remaining 77.83% of total CCDE remaining unchanged. This research provides a key reference point for governmental departments in urban transportation management and environmental protection to formulate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]