scholarly journals Communicating Heat-Health Information to the Public: Assessing Municipal Government Extreme Heat Event Website Content

Abstract Extreme heat events pose a threat to human health. Forecasting and warning strategies have been developed to mitigate heat-health hazards. Yet, studies have found that the public lacks knowledge about their heat-health risks and preventive actions to take to reduce risks. Local governmental websites are an important means to communicate preparedness to the public. The purpose of this study is to examine information provided to the public on municipal government webpages of the 10 most populous U.S. cities. A two-level document and content analyses were conducted. A direct content analysis was conducted using federal government websites and documents to create the Extreme Heat Event Public Response Rubric. The Rubric contains two broad categories of populations and actions that are further specified. The Rubric was then used to examine local government extreme heat event websites for the 10 most populous cities in the U.S. The examination of the local government sites found that information included on the websites failed to identify the breadth of populations at greater risk for adverse heat-health outcomes and omitted some recommended actions designed to prevent adverse heat-health events. Local governments often communicated concrete and simple content to the public but more complex information was not included on their websites.

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-128
Author(s):  
Wahyudin Nor ◽  
Muhammad Hudaya ◽  
Rifqi Novriyandana

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment influence the disclosure of financial statements on the official website of local government. Design/methodology/approach The data of this research comprise 68 financial statements during the period 2015–2016 collected from 34 local governments across Indonesia by employing the census method. The data then are analyzed using logistic regression. Findings The results of this study show that audit opinion has a positive significant influence on the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites in Indonesia, while the audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment have no significant influences on the disclosure of financial statements local governments’ websites across Indonesia. Originality/value The study contributes to the public sector accounting research by enhancing our understanding to the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites.


Upravlenie ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Indira Kokhanovskaya

The theoretical issues of organizing the activities of local governments as a key element of municipal government have been considered. Currently, the relevance of studying the management of municipalities is increasing. This is due to economic, political reasons and processes, occurring in the municipalities. Municipal management is a key element of the public administration system, at the core of the organization of management at the local management level is the satisfaction of needs, as well as the realization of the public interests of the local population. The legislator has clearly defined the scope, authority and responsibility for local governments. At the same time, the main areas of activity of municipal authorities include the organization and subordination of the activities of enterprises, organizations and institutions of municipal and other forms of ownership, located in the territory of the municipal entity, arising on the basis of satisfaction of the public interests of citizens. It is the local authorities, that ensure the organization and implementation of local government with the independent participation of social structures and their individual elements, when solving issues of local importance. The highest value of local government is the recognition of the rights of man and citizen. A citizen acts as an independent entity, which forms the management at the municipal level. Municipal government is the basis of the democratic system of the state and an indispensable condition for the progressive development of modern society; has its own essence, political property, which determines its content, value and purpose; the basis of the essence is power and its implementation. In the process of implementing the activities of officials or executive bodies in order to develop the most effective option of municipal government, in practice, certain methods and techniques of activity in this area are used.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4415
Author(s):  
Xiaohan Wu ◽  
Yongming Xu ◽  
Huijuan Chen

The intensity and frequency of extreme heat events are increasing globally, which has a great impact on resident health, social life, and ecosystems. Detailed knowledge of the spatial heat pattern during extreme heat events is important for coping with heat disasters. This study aimed to monitor the characteristics of the spatial pattern during the 2013 heat wave in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), China, based on the remote sensing estimated gridded air temperature (Ta). Based on the land surface temperature (Ts), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), built-up area, and elevation derived from multi-source satellite data, the daily maximum air temperature (Ta_max) during the heat wave was mapped by the random forest (RF) algorithm. Based on the remotely sensed Ta, heat intensity index (HII) was calculated to measure the spatial pattern of heat during this heat wave. Results indicated that most areas in the YRD suffered from extreme heat, and the heat pattern also exhibited obvious spatial heterogeneity. Cities located in the Taihu Plain and the Hangjiahu Plain generally had high HII values. The northern plain in the YRD showed relatively lower HII values, and mountains in the southern YRD showed the lowest HII values. Heat proportion index (HPI) was calculated to qualify the overall heat intensity of each city in the YRD. Wuxi, Changzhou, and Shanghai showed the highest HPI values, indicating that the overall heat intensities in these cities were higher than others. Yancheng, Zhoushan, and Anqing ranked last. This study provides a good reference for understanding the pattern of heat during heat waves in the YRD, which is valuable for heat wave disaster prevention.


Author(s):  
Yehisson Tibana ◽  
Estatio Gutierrez ◽  
Sashary Marte ◽  
J. E. Gonzalez

Dense urban environments are exposed to the combined effects of rising global temperatures and urban heat islands, a thermal gradient between the urban centers and the less urbanized surroundings suburbs. This combination is resulting in increasing trends of energy consumption in cities, associated mostly to air conditioning to maintain indoor human comfort conditions. The energy demand is further magnified during extreme heat events to a point where the electrical grid may be at risk. Given the anticipated increased frequency of extreme heat events for the future, it is imperative to develop methodologies to quantify energy demands from buildings during extreme heat events. The purpose of this study is to precisely quantify thermal loads of buildings located in the very dense urban environment of New York City under an extreme heat event that took place in the summer of 2010 (July 4–8). Two approaches were used to quantify thermal loads of buildings for these conditions; a single building energy model (SBEM), such as the US Department of Energy eQUEST and EnergyPlus™, and an urbanized weather forecasting model (uWRF) coupled to a building energy model. The SBEM was driven by Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) weather file and by a customized weather file built from uWRF’s weather data for the specific days of the heat wave. A series of simulations were conducted with both SBEM software to model building energy consumption data due to air conditioning for two locations in Uptown and Midtown Manhattan, NY, which represented a low density and a high density building area within the city. Assumptions were made regarding the building’s floor plans and operation schedule to simplify the model and provide a close comparison to uWRF. Results of the ensemble of SBEM indicate there was an increase in energy consumption during the July 2010 heat-wave when compared with the central park TMY case. The uptown location consumed 137% more energy during the heat wave event, while the midtown location showed an increased in energy consumption of 125% when compared to a typical July three day period, reaching total loads of close to 9812 kWh for a 20 m height building. Comparison of the results directly from uWRF for the energy consumption for same locations, indicate that for the midtown location both SBEMs underestimated the total energy consumption within a factor of three. This may be due to the fact that uWRF energy model takes into account urban microclimate parameters such as anthropogenic sources and waste heat interactions between surrounding buildings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 280-280
Author(s):  
Mei Liu ◽  
Carol Buller ◽  
Barbara Polivka ◽  
Terri Woodburn ◽  
Mark Jakubauskas ◽  
...  

Abstract Studies have suggested that extreme weather events have differential effects by age. By leveraging electronic medical records, we aim to analyze the environmental influence of extreme heat on the health of older adults. From our healthcare system’s de-identified data warehouse, we extracted a retrospective cohort of 108,192 patients who were ≥65 years of age as of 1/1/2018 with pre-existing chronic conditions including diabetes, COPD, cardiovascular disease, or kidney disease. Extreme heat event period was defined as 5/1/2018 to 9/1/2018 (79 days with temperature ≥90o; 15 days of moderately poor/poor air quality index (AQI) [≥75] values) and the comparison period was defined as 5/1/2019 to 9/1/2019 (51 days with temperature ≥90o; 0 days with moderately poor/poor AQI values) in the Kansas City area. We randomly partitioned the study cohort into two sets and demonstrated the two patient sets were statistically similar (p>0.05) with respect to their demographic and underlying health conditions. Finally, we compared the respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal health outcomes between the 2018 and the 2019 cohorts. Most patients were Caucasians, female and had comorbid conditions. Results showed significantly higher number of all-cause emergency department visits (p=0.04) and outpatient visits (p=<.001) during the extreme heat event period in 2018. Analyses also showed significantly higher number of outpatient visits due to upper respiratory diseases (p=0.008) and acute renal failure (p=0.01) in 2018. In conclusion, extreme heat increased use of healthcare services in older adults with chronic conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Na ◽  
Riyu Lu ◽  
Bing Lu ◽  
Min Chen ◽  
Shiguang Miao

Author(s):  
Shuang Ling ◽  
Shan Gao ◽  
Wenhui Liu

Despite the expectation that social media use in the public sector contributes to enhancing government's transparency, few studies have been investigated whether social media use actually leads to more disclosure during environmental incidents in practice and how social media influence local governments and their officials' information disclosure. In this article, we model information disclosure during environmental incidents as an evolutionary game process between the central government and local government in social media context, and examine the internal mechanism that how social media influence the progress of information disclosure during environmental incidents. The findings indicate that social media plays an active constructive role in central-local government game relations. Specific- ally, social media can provides an efficient information channels for the central government supervise regional officials in environmental incidents, and thus improves its supervision efficiency, and it also provides an important means for internet mobilization and online-offline interaction by encouraging the public exchange information and express their views, and in turn forces local governments and their officials tend to disclosure ahead.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Mariusz W. Sienkiewicz

The fact that Poland and Ukraine share a border, the convergence of the political goals of the peoples of both countries, and the constant efforts towards the development of democracy and decentralisation of public life determine the need to intensify cooperation in various areas of the functioning of society and the economy. An important sphere of cooperation is the public sector, in particular at the level of local government. The local government cooperation of both countries was already visible at the beginning of the social and political transformations after 1990. The development of this cooperation, with varying results, took place in the 1990s and, to an even greater extent, after Poland’s accession to the European Union. In the last three decades, local and regional communities in Ukraine have become an important partner for Polish local governments, both at the local and regional levels. The local government cooperation that has been implemented is based on the diversification and multidimensionality of forms and models. Some result from legal regulations, while others are based on mutual experiences, previous contacts, and sympathies of public authorities. The aim of the study is to analyse and present the conditions and forms of Polish-Ukrainian local government cooperation. The aim is also to show the barriers to cooperation and to define proposed solutions to improve partner contacts of territorial units. The local government cooperation of the two countries is undoubtedly hindered by the fact that Ukraine is not a member of the EU, and often by mutual misunderstanding and non-acceptance of historical experiences. On the other hand, common goals at different levels of social, public, and economic life are a significant factor motivating parties to increase cooperation and achieve a synergistic effect thanks to it.


2012 ◽  
pp. 577-593
Author(s):  
Hisham M. Abdelsalam ◽  
Christopher G. Reddick ◽  
Hatem A. ElKadi

This chapter examines the development of e-Government in selected Egyptian local governments. A content analysis of 25 local government website portals was conducted examining categories of e-Management, e-Services, e-Democracy, and e-Decision making. The study first sets out to examine the overall level of maturity of local government websites in these four areas in Egypt. Second, this study examines whether Egyptian human development indicators explain the maturity of local government websites. Firstly, the overall results indicated that e-Government maturity in Egypt was primarily in the information dissemination stage. Secondly, local governments had a greater population in social services industries which indicated a greater level of e-Government maturity. Out of 17 variables tested, there were very few human development indicators related to e-Government website maturity. The results of this chapter showed the maturity of e-Government in local governments in a developing country matched against developed nations. Also, the results showed the limited impact of human development indicators to predict e-Government website maturity.


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