Assessing the effectiveness of the heat health warning system in preventing mortality in 15 German cities: A difference-in-differences approach.

Background: Heatwaves pose significant risks to human health. Implementing heat health warning systems (HHWS) has been widely adopted as a preventive measure. However, the effectiveness of the German HHWS in reducing mortality during heat episodes across different cities has scarcely been researched.

Short-term association between hot nights and mortality: a multicountry analysis in 178 locations considering hourly ambient temperature.

Background: The rise in hot nights over recent decades and projections of further increases due to climate change underscores the critical need to understand their impact. This knowledge is essential for shaping public health strategies and guiding adaptation efforts. Despite their significance, research on the implications of hot nights remains limited.

The implications of somatic symptom disorder on the impairment of daily life are greater in post-COVID syndrome than in asthma or COPD - results of a cross-sectional study in a rehabilitation clinic.

The aim was to compare the relationship between somatic symptom disorder (SSD), anxiety, depression, clinical symptoms, and daily life impairment (DLI) in post-COVID syndrome (PCS), asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a cross-sectional study, 371 patients (161 PCS, 121 asthma, 89 COPD) of a pulmonary rehabilitation clinic received the questionnaires PHQ-15 (Patient Health Questionnaire-15) and SSD-12 (Somatic Symptom Disorder-12) to determine SSD, GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7) to determine anxiety disorder, and PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) to determine depression. Lung function was estimated using whole-body plethysmography.

Temporal change in minimum mortality temperature under changing climate: A multicountry multicommunity observational study spanning 1986-2015.

Background: The minimum mortality temperature (MMT) or MMT percentile (MMTP) is an indicator of population susceptibility to nonoptimum temperatures. MMT and MMTP change over time; however, the changing directions show region-wide heterogeneity. We examined the heterogeneity of temporal changes in MMT and MMTP across multiple communities and in multiple countries.

Temporal variations in the short-term effects of ambient air pollution on cardiovascular and respiratory mortality: a pooled analysis of 380 urban areas over a 22-year period.

Background: Ambient air pollution, including particulate matter (such as PM and PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO), has been linked to increases in mortality. Whether populations' vulnerability to these pollutants has changed over time is unclear, and studies on this topic do not include multicountry analysis. We evaluated whether changes in exposure to air pollutants were associated with changes in mortality effect estimates over time.

Impact of population aging on future temperature-related mortality at different global warming levels.

Older adults are generally amongst the most vulnerable to heat and cold. While temperature-related health impacts are projected to increase with global warming, the influence of population aging on these trends remains unclear. Here we show that at 1.

Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with cold spells during 2000-19: a three-stage modelling study.

Background: Exposure to cold spells is associated with mortality. However, little is known about the global mortality burden of cold spells.

Methods: A three-stage meta-analytical method was used to estimate the global mortality burden associated with cold spells by means of a time series dataset of 1960 locations across 59 countries (or regions).

Heat-Related Mortality in the Extreme Summer of 2022—an Analysis Based on Daily Data.

Background: Estimating the excess mortality attributable to heat is a central element of the documentation of the consequences of climate change for human health. Until now, estimates of heatrelated deaths in Germany by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) have been based on weekly mortality records.

Methods: Our study is the first to use higher resolution data-i.

Rapid increase in the risk of heat-related mortality.

Heat-related mortality has been identified as one of the key climate extremes posing a risk to human health. Current research focuses largely on how heat mortality increases with mean global temperature rise, but it is unclear how much climate change will increase the frequency and severity of extreme summer seasons with high impact on human health. In this probabilistic analysis, we combined empirical heat-mortality relationships for 748 locations from 47 countries with climate model large ensemble data to identify probable past and future highly impactful summer seasons.

Temporal variation in the association between temperature and cause-specific mortality in 15 German cities.

Background: There is limited evidence of temporal changes in the association between air temperature and the risk of cause-specific cardiovascular [CVD] and respiratory [RD] mortality.

Method: We explored temporal variations in the association between short-term exposures to air temperature and non-accidental and cause-specific CVD and RD mortality in the 15 largest German cities over 24 years (1993-2016) using time-stratified time series analysis. We applied location-specific confounder-adjusted Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear models with a lag period of 14 days to estimate the temperature-mortality associations.

Excess mortality attributed to heat and cold: a health impact assessment study in 854 cities in Europe.

Background: Heat and cold are established environmental risk factors for human health. However, mapping the related health burden is a difficult task due to the complexity of the associations and the differences in vulnerability and demographic distributions. In this study, we did a comprehensive mortality impact assessment due to heat and cold in European urban areas, considering geographical differences and age-specific risks.

Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with short-term temperature variability from 2000-19: a three-stage modelling study.

Background: Increased mortality risk is associated with short-term temperature variability. However, to our knowledge, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the temperature variability-related mortality burden worldwide. In this study, using data from the MCC Collaborative Research Network, we first explored the association between temperature variability and mortality across 43 countries or regions.

Fluctuating temperature modifies heat-mortality association around the globe.

Studies have investigated the effects of heat and temperature variability (TV) on mortality. However, few assessed whether TV modifies the heat-mortality association. Data on daily temperature and mortality in the warm season were collected from 717 locations across 36 countries.

Projecting Temperature-Attributable Mortality and Hospital Admissions due to Enteric Infections in the Philippines.

Background: Enteric infections cause significant deaths, and global projection studies suggest that mortality from enteric infections will increase in the future with warmer climate. However, a major limitation of these projection studies is the use of risk estimates derived from nonmortality data to project excess enteric infection mortality associated with temperature because of the lack of studies that used actual deaths.

Objective: We quantified the associations of daily temperature with both mortality and hospital admissions due to enteric infections in the Philippines.

Geographical Variations of the Minimum Mortality Temperature at a Global Scale: A Multicountry Study.

Background: Minimum mortality temperature (MMT) is an important indicator to assess the temperature-mortality association, indicating long-term adaptation to local climate. Limited evidence about the geographical variability of the MMT is available at a global scale.

Methods: We collected data from 658 communities in 43 countries under different climates.

Intergenerational inequities in exposure to climate extremes.

Young generations are severely threatened by climate change.

Mortality risk attributable to wildfire-related PM pollution: a global time series study in 749 locations.

Background: Many regions of the world are now facing more frequent and unprecedentedly large wildfires. However, the association between wildfire-related PM and mortality has not been well characterised. We aimed to comprehensively assess the association between short-term exposure to wildfire-related PM and mortality across various regions of the world.

Association between Ambient Temperature and Severe Diarrhoea in the National Capital Region, Philippines.

Epidemiological studies have quantified the association between ambient temperature and diarrhoea. However, to our knowledge, no study has quantified the temperature association for severe diarrhoea cases. In this study, we quantified the association between mean temperature and two severe diarrhoea outcomes, which were mortality and hospital admissions accompanied with dehydration and/or co-morbidities.

Taking globally consistent health impact projections to the next level.

Despite intensive research activity within the area of climate change, substantial knowledge gaps still remain regarding the potential future impacts of climate change on human health. A key shortcoming in the scientific understanding of these impacts is the lack of studies that are conducted in a coordinated and consistent fashion, producing directly comparable outputs. This Viewpoint discusses and exemplifies a bottom-up initiative generating new research evidence in a more coordinated and consistent way compared with previous efforts.