Day: December 28, 2023

Air conditioning and heating systems have contributed considerably to reducing mortality linked to extreme temperatures in Spain, according to a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation. The findings, published in Environment International, provide valuable insights for designing policies to adapt to climate change.

Rising temperatures but lower mortality

Spain, like many parts of the world, has experienced rising temperatures in recent decades, with the average annual mean temperature increasing at an average rate of 0.36°C per decade. The warming trend is even more pronounced in the summer months (0.40°C per decade). Surprisingly, this increase in temperature has coincided with a progressive reduction in mortality associated with heat. In addition, cold-related mortality has also decreased.

“Understanding the factors that reduce susceptibility to extreme temperatures is crucial to inform health adaptation policies and to combat the negative effects of climate change,” says first author of the study, Hicham Achebak, researcher at ISGlobal and Inserm (France) and holder of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission.

Effective societal adaptations

In this study, Achebak and colleagues analysed the demographic and socioeconomic factors behind the observed reduction in heat and cold-related mortality, despite rising temperatures. They found that the increase in air conditioning (AC) prevalence in Spain was associated with a reduction in heat-related mortality, while the rise in heating prevalence was associated with a decrease in cold-related mortality. Specifically, AC was found to be responsible for about 28.6% of the decline in deaths due to heat and 31.5% of the decrease in deaths due to extreme heat between the late 1980s and the early 2010s. Heating systems contributed significantly, accounting for about 38.3% of the reduction in cold-related deaths and a substantial 50.8% decrease in extreme cold-related fatalities during the same period. The decrease in mortality due to cold would have been larger had there not been a demographic shift towards a higher proportion of people aged over 65, who are more susceptible to cold temperatures. 

The authors conclude that the reduction in heat-related mortality is largely the result of the country’s socioeconomic development over the study period, rather than specific interventions such as heat-wave warning systems.

Four decades of data

For the statistical analysis, the research team collected data on daily mortality (all causes) and weather (temperature and relative humidity) for 48 provinces in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, between January 1980 and December 2018. These data were then linked to 14 indicators of context (demographic and socioeconomic variables such as housing, income and education) for these populations over the same period.

Implications for climate adaptation

The results of the study extend previous findings on heat-related mortality in Spain and underscore the importance of air conditioning and heating as effective adaptation measures to mitigate the effects of heat and cold. “However, we observed large disparities in the presence of AC across provinces. AC is still unaffordable for many Spanish households,” says Achebak.

The authors also point out that the widespread use of AC could further contribute to global warming depending on the source of electricity generation, which is why other cooling strategies, such as expanding green and blue spaces in cities, are also needed.

“Our findings have important implications for the development of adaptation strategies to climate change. They also inform future projections of the impact of climate change on human health,” concludes Joan Ballester, ISGlobal researcher and study coordinator.

A team of international scientists led by Dr Rebecca Hamilton at the University of Sydney has found that rather than dry savannah in South East Asia dominating during the Last Glacial Maximum more than 19,000 years ago, there was a mosaic of diverse closed and open forest types, upending previous scientific consensus.

The findings suggest Asia’s tropical forests could be more resilient to climate change than previously thought, provided a diversity of landscape is maintained. They further show that humans and animals migrating across the region would have had a more diverse resource base than previously understood.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Dr Hamilton, from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney, said that with climate change accelerating, scientists and ecologists have been concerned about what impact this will have on tropical rainforests in regions like South East Asia.

“Maintaining forest types that facilitate resilience should be a conservation objective for the region. Our work suggests that prioritising protection of forests above 1000 metres (‘montane forest’) alongside seasonally dry forest types could be important for preventing future ‘savannisation’ of Asia’s rainforests,” she said.

Savannisation refers to the metamorphosis of a landscape, typically a forested area, into a savannah ecosystem, which typically involves open wooded plains. The change is typically induced by climate variations, human interventions or natural ecological dynamics.

The researchers analysed records from 59 paleoenvironmental sites across tropical SE Asia to test the so-called savannah model, which assumed a large, uniform grassland expanded across the region during the Last Glacial Maximum.

They found that records from pollen grains preserved in lakes show forests persisted during this period alongside an expansion of grasslands, indicated by other biochemical signatures.

Dr Hamilton said: “We put forward the idea that these seeming discrepancies can be reconciled if, during the cool and seasonal climate of the Last Glacial Maximum, montane forests (above 1000m) persisted and expanded in high-elevation regions, while lowlands experienced a shift to seasonally dry forests, which have a naturally grassy understorey.”

The team also included scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena, Germany; Flinders University; Purdue University in the USA; University of the Philippines; and the Australian National University.

Researchers said they expect the statistical methods developed to cross-compare the many paleoecological records will be useful for regional testing of other past ecological change.

NPR News: 12-28-2023 1AM EST

Azad edilmiş ərazilərdə təminat yolları qar örtüyündən təmizlənir – VİDEO

Çətin relyefli və dağlıq ərazilərdə dislokasiya olunan bölmələrin istənilən hava şəraitində xidməti-döyüş fəaliyyətinin yüksək səviyyədə təşkili məqsədilə zəruri tədbirlər davam etdirilir.
Azad edilmiş ərazilərdə Azərbaycan Ordusunun mühəndis-istehkam bölmələri tərəfindən təminat yolları qar örtüyündən təmizlənərək daim işlək vəziyyətdə saxlanılır, avtomobil və döyüş texnikası kolonlarının təhlükəsiz və fasiləsiz hərəkəti təmin olunur.
Mühəndis təminatı üzrə tədbirlər plana uyğun olaraq növbəti ildə də davam etdiriləcəkdir.

Azad edilmiş ərazilərdə təminat yolları qar örtüyündən təmizlənir – VİDEO

Supply roads in liberated territories are cleared of snow cover – VIDEO

Necessary measures are being taken in order to organize the high-level service and combat activity of the units stationed in difficult terrain and mountainous areas in all weather conditions.
The engineer-sapper units of the Azerbaijan Army clear the roads of snow in the liberated territories and keep them in working state, ensuring the safe and uninterrupted movement of convoys of vehicles and combat equipment.
The measures on engineering provision will be continued in the next year according to the plan.

Supply roads in liberated territories are cleared of snow cover – VIDEO

Пути обеспечения на освобожденных территориях очищаются от снега – ВИДЕО

Принимаются необходимые меры по организации служебно-боевой деятельности подразделений, дислоцированных в труднопроходимой, горной местности, на высоком уровне в любых погодных условиях.
Инженерно-сапёрные подразделения Азербайджанской Армии очищают от снега пути обеспечения на освобожденных территориях и поддерживают их в рабочем состоянии, обеспечивая безопасное и непрерывное движение колонн автомобильной и боевой техники.
Мероприятия по инженерному обеспечению будут продолжены в плановом порядке и в предстоящем году.

Пути обеспечения на освобожденных территориях очищаются от снега – ВИДЕО

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un has called on the country’s military to “accelerate” war preparations, signaling a concerning escalation in tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Kim’s directive, outlined in a recent party speech, suggests a continuation of the record year of weapons testing witnessed in 2023, despite widespread international sanctions.

The speech, delivered during a key gathering of the ruling Workers’ Party, outlined Kim’s commitment to bolstering the nation’s military capabilities. The DPRK leader emphasized the need to advance weapons development and readiness, raising alarm bells among neighboring countries and the international community, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.

DPRK experienced a series of weapons tests throughout 2023, including the launch of ballistic missiles and the testing of advanced missile technology as self-defense measures against any kind of US aggression.