About the Heat focus topic
Heatwaves have been the most prominent hazard causing weather-related human fatalities over the past decades. The 2003 summer European heatwave alone caused up to 70 000 excess deaths over 4 months in central and western Europe. Increased mortality is the most drastic impact of heatwaves. However, exposure to hot days and nights can impact human health and well-being in various other ways, including ‘bad moods’, feeling discomfort and getting sick, all factors reflected by ‘thermal comfort’.
Effects:
- Changing of the seasons -> Mismatch in the food chain
- Decrease in quality of open water
- Heat-stress for animals
- Increase in diseases within the agricultural sector
- Increase of allergy-days
Sources: