scholarly journals Future Changes in Human-Biometeorological Index Classes in Three Regions of Luxembourg, Western-Central Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Leona Lokys ◽  
Jürgen Junk ◽  
Andreas Krein
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Thermal Stress ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Climate Index ◽  
Human Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
The Impact

Projected climate change will cause increasing air temperatures affecting human thermal comfort. In the highly populated areas of Western-Central Europe a large population will be exposed to these changes. In particular Luxembourg—with its dense population and the large cross-border commuter flows—is vulnerable to changing thermal stress. Based on climate change projections we assessed the impact of climate change on human thermal comfort over the next century using two common human-biometeorological indices, the Physiological Equivalent Temperature and the Universal Thermal Climate Index. To account for uncertainties, we used a multimodel ensemble of 12 transient simulations (1971–2098) with a spatial resolution of 25 km. In addition, the regional differences were analysed by a single regional climate model run with a spatial resolution of 1.3 km. For the future, trends in air temperature, vapour pressure, and both human-biometeorological indices could be determined. Cold stress levels will decrease significantly in the near future up to 2050, while the increase in heat stress turns statistically significant in the far future up to 2100. This results in a temporarily reduced overall thermal stress level but further increasing air temperatures will shift the thermal comfort towards heat stress.

scholarly journals Borderless Heat Stress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Brimicombe ◽  
Claudia Di Napoli ◽  
Rosalind Cornforth ◽  
Florian Pappenberger ◽  
Celia Petty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Thermal Stress ◽  
News Media ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Climate Index ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Radiant Temperature ◽  
The Impact

<p>Heatwaves have been increasing in frequency, duration, and intensity. They have been the deadliest hydro-meteorology hazard globally for the last 5 years according to the world meteorological organisation. In addition, they are not constrained by geography in the same sense as many other hazards and as such they are borderless. They however receive less attention, research, and funding internationally than other hazards such as floods and storms, effecting how we perceive their risk and their reporting. Here we consider the impact of heatwaves by making use of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) for indicating heat stress. The UTCI is a biometeorological index that computes thermal stress using the parameters of 2m temperature, wind speed, mean radiant temperature and relative humidity and a body model, making it a human-centric approach to assessing thermal stress and is skilful for both indicating and forecasting heat hazards. Further a comparison to how heat impacts are reported in EM-DAT (an international disasters database) and international meteorological organisation reports, supplemented by English news media reports is made to assess whether heat impacts are sufficiently reported. In addition, we refer to specific case studies of the United Kingdom, Ghana, and Uganda to further explore impacts, risk perception and policy at a country level, because although heat is borderless impacts occur on a local scale. All this together, will provide the evidence for the development a potentially global early warning system and the implementation of climate change adaptation on a local level to build adaptive capacity and resilience to the growing risk of heat stress internationally. </p>

scholarly journals Prediction of Climate Change Effect on Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Arid Region

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4730
Author(s):  
Mohamed Elhadi Matallah ◽  
Waqas Ahmed Mahar ◽  
Mushk Bughio ◽  
Djamel Alkama ◽  
Atef Ahriz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Summer Season ◽  
Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
The Impact

Climate change and expected weather patterns in the long-term threaten the livelihood inside oases settlements in arid lands, particularly under the recurring heat waves during the harsh months. This paper investigates the impact of climate change on the outdoor thermal comfort within a multifamily housing neighborhood that is considered the most common residential archetype in Algerian Sahara, under extreme weather conditions in the summer season, in the long-term. It focuses on assessing the outdoor thermal comfort in the long-term, based on the Perceived Temperature index (PT), using simulation software ENVI-met and calculation model RayMan. Three different stations in situ were conducted and combined with TMY weather datasets for 2020 and the IPCC future projections: A1B, A2, B1 for 2050, and 2080. The results are performed from two different perspectives: to investigate how heat stress evolution undergoes climate change from 2020 till 2080; and for the development of a mathematical algorithm to predict the outdoor thermal comfort values in short-term, medium-term and long-term durations. The results indicate a gradual increase in PT index values, starting from 2020 and progressively elevated to 2080 during the summer season, which refers to an extreme thermal heat-stress level with differences in PT index averages between 2020 and 2050 (+5.9 °C), and 2080 (+7.7 °C), meaning no comfortable thermal stress zone expected during 2080. This study gives urban climate researchers, architects, designers and urban planners several insights into predicted climate circumstances and their impacts on outdoor thermal comfort for the long-term under extreme weather conditions, in order to take preventive measures for the cities’ planning in the arid regions.

scholarly journals A New Method to Assess Fine-Scale Outdoor Thermal Comfort for Urban Agglomerations

Climate ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Dirk Lauwaet ◽  
Bino Maiheu ◽  
Koen De Ridder ◽  
Wesley Boënne ◽  
Hans Hooyberghs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Agglomerations ◽  
Human Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Water Surfaces

In urban areas, high air temperatures and heat stress levels greatly affect human thermal comfort and public health, with climate change further increasing the mortality risks. This study presents a high resolution (100 m) modelling method, including detailed offline radiation calculations, that is able to efficiently calculate outdoor heat stress for entire urban agglomerations for a time period spanning several months. A dedicated measurement campaign was set up to evaluate model performance, yielding satisfactory results. As an example, the modelling tool was used to assess the effectiveness of green areas and water surfaces to cool air temperatures and wet bulb globe temperatures during a typical hot day in the city of Ghent (Belgium), since the use of vegetation and water bodies are shown to be promising in mitigating the adverse effects of urban heat islands and improving thermal comfort. The results show that air temperature reduction is most profound over water surfaces during the afternoon, while open rural areas are coolest during the night. Radiation shading from trees, and to a lesser extent, from buildings, is found to be most effective in reducing wet bulb globe temperatures and improving thermal comfort during the warmest moments of the day.

scholarly journals Urban Heat Islands and Thermal Comfort: A Case Study of Zorrotzaurre Island in Bilbao

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6106
Author(s):  
Irantzu Alvarez ◽  
Laura Quesada-Ganuza ◽  
Estibaliz Briz ◽  
Leire Garmendia
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Heat Islands ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Climate Index ◽  
Physiological Equivalent Temperature ◽  
Heat Islands ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

This study assesses the impact of a heat wave on the thermal comfort of an unconstructed area: the North Zone of the Island of Zorrotzaurre (Bilbao, Spain). In this study, the impact of urban planning as proposed in the master plan on thermal comfort is modeled using the ENVI-met program. Likewise, the question of whether the urbanistic proposals are designed to create more resilient urban environments is analyzed in the face of increasingly frequent extreme weather events, especially heat waves. The study is centered on the analysis of temperature variables (air temperature and average radiant temperature) as well as wind speed and relative humidity. This was completed with the parameters of thermal comfort, the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and the Universal Temperature Climate Index (UTCI) for the hours of the maximum and minimum daily temperatures. The results demonstrated the viability of analyzing thermal comfort through simulations with the ENVI-met program in order to analyze the behavior of urban spaces in various climate scenarios.

scholarly journals Urban Geometry Optimization to Mitigate Climate Change: Towards Energy-Efficient Buildings

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Hatem Mahmoud ◽  
Ayman Ragab
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Urban Geometry ◽  
Outdoor Spaces ◽  
The Impact

The density of building blocks and insufficient greenery in cities tend to contribute dramatically not only to increased heat stress in the built environment but also to higher energy demand for cooling. Urban planners should, therefore, be conscious of their responsibility to reduce energy usage of buildings along with improving outdoor thermal efficiency. This study examines the impact of numerous proposed urban geometry cases on the thermal efficiency of outer spaces as well as the energy consumption of adjacent buildings under various climate change scenarios as representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 climate projections for New Aswan city in 2035. The investigation was performed at one of the most underutilized outdoor spaces on the new campus of Aswan University in New Aswan city. The potential reduction of heat stress was investigated so as to improve the thermal comfort of the investigated outdoor spaces, as well as energy savings based on the proposed strategies. Accordingly, the most appropriate scenario to be adopted to cope with the inevitable climate change was identified. The proposed scenarios were divided into four categories of parameters. In the first category, shelters partially (25–50% and 75%) covering the streets were used. The second category proposed dividing the space parallel or perpendicular to the existing buildings. The third category was a hybrid scenario of the first and second categories. In the fourth category, a green cover of grass was added. A coupling evaluation was applied utilizing ENVI-met v4.2 and Design-Builder v4.5 to measure and improve the thermal efficiency of the outdoor space and reduce the cooling energy. The results demonstrated that it is better to cover outdoor spaces with 50% of the overall area than transform outdoor spaces into canyons.

Design Range of Indoor Relative Humidity in Radiant Cooling Environment

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 4905-4908
Author(s):  
Xue Min Sui ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Guang Hui Han
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Mean Radiant Temperature ◽  
Design Standards ◽  
Human Thermal Comfort ◽  
Radiant Cooling ◽  
Climate Parameter ◽  
Radiant Temperature ◽  
Thermal Comfort Model ◽  
The Impact

Relative humidity is an important micro-climate parameter in radiant cooling environment. Based on the human thermal comfort model, this paper studied the effect on PMV index of relative humidity, and studied the relationship of low mean radiant temperature and relative humidity, drew the appropriate design range of indoor relative humidity for radiant cooling systems.The results show that high relative humidity can compensate for the impact on thermal comfort of low mean radiant temperature, on the premise of achieving the same thermal comfort requirements. However, because of the limited compensation range of relative humidity, together with the constraints for it due to anti-condensation of radiant terminal devices, the design range of relative humidity should not be improved, and it can still use the traditional air-conditioning design standards.

The impact of extreme climatic events on pasture-based dairy systems: a review

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Chang-Fung-Martel ◽  
M. T. Harrison ◽  
R. Rawnsley ◽  
A. P. Smith ◽  
H. Meinke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Extreme Climatic Events ◽  
Dairy Systems ◽  
The Impact

Extreme climatic events such as heat waves, extreme rainfall and prolonged dry periods are a significant challenge to the productivity and profitability of dairy systems. Despite projections of more frequent extreme events, increasing temperatures and reduced precipitation, studies on the impact of these extreme climatic events on pasture-based dairy systems remain uncommon. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated Australia to be one of the most negatively impacted regions with additional studies estimating Australian production losses of around 16% in the agricultural sector and 9–19% between the present and 2050 in the south-eastern dairy regions of Australia due to climate change. Here we review the literature on the impact of climate change on pasture-based dairy systems with particular focus on extreme climatic events. We provide an insight into current methods for assessing and quantifying heat stress highlighting the impacts on pastures and animals including the associated potential productivity losses and conclude by outlining potential adaptation strategies for improving the resilience of the whole-farm systems to climate change. Adapting milking routines, calving systems and the introduction of heat stress tolerant dairy cow breeds are some proposed strategies. Changes in pasture production would also include alternative pasture species better adapted to climate extremes such as heat waves and prolonged periods of water deficit. In order to develop effective adaptation strategies we also need to focus on issues such as water availability, animal health and associated energy costs.

scholarly journals Impact of climate change on hydropower production in the Upper Danube

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Martin Santos ◽  
Mathew Herrnegger ◽  
Hubert Holzmann
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Emission Scenarios ◽  
Hydropower Generation ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

<p>In the last two decades, different climate downscaling initiatives provided climate scenarios for Europe. The most recent initiative, CORDEX, provides Regional Climate Model (RCM) data for Europe with a spatial resolution of 12.5 km, while the previous initiative, ENSEMBLES, had a spatial resolution of 25 km. They are based on different emission scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) respectively.</p><p>A study carried out by Stanzel et al. (2018) explored the hydrological impact and discharge projections for the Danube basin upstream of Vienna when using either CORDEX and ENSEMBLES data. This basin covers an area of 101.810<sup></sup>km<sup>2</sup> with a mean annual discharge of 1923 m<sup>3</sup>/s at the basin outlet. The basin is dominated by the Alps, large gradients and is characterized by high annual precipitations sums which provides valuable water resources available along the basin. Hydropower therefore plays an important role and accounts for more than half of the installed power generating capacity for this area. The estimation of hydropower generation under climate change is an important task for planning the future electricity supply, also considering the on-going EU efforts and the “Green Deal” initiative.</p><p>Taking as input the results from Stanzel et al. (2018), we use transfer functions derived from historical discharge and hydropower generation data, to estimate potential changes for the future. The impact of climate change projections of ENSEMBLE and CORDEX in respect to hydropower generation for each basin within the study area is determined. In addition, an assessment of the impact on basins dominated by runoff river plants versus basins dominated by storage plants is considered.</p><p>The good correlation between discharge and hydropower generation found in the historical data suggests that discharge projection characteristics directly affect the future expected hydropower generation. Large uncertainties exist and stem from the ensembles of climate runs, but also from the potential operation modes of the (storage) hydropower plants in the future.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>References:</p><p>Stanzel, P., Kling, H., 2018. From ENSEMBLES to CORDEX: Evolving climate change projections for Upper Danube River flow. J. Hydrol. 563, 987–999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.057</p><p> </p>

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