{"id":17,"date":"2020-11-06T06:11:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T04:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/heatclim\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2021-08-03T15:26:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T13:26:32","slug":"kotisivu","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.uef.fi\/heatclim\/","title":{"rendered":"The HEATCLIM project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HEATCLIM-projektin suomenkielinen kuvaus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEATCLIM is a research project with the objective to produce new knowledge on the effects of high summer-time temperatures on human health in northern areas, as well as on cost-effective and socially acceptable solutions to adapt to the changing climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consortium project is coordinated by prof. Timo Lanki in the University of Eastern Finland, and funded by the Academy of Finland within the CLIHE research programme<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat and health<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Heat affects health in many ways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Central feature of the ongoing climate change is a gradual increase in ambient temperature. The predicted increase is not homogeneous, but northern areas will warm up the most. Not only will the mean temperature increase, but heat waves will become more frequent and intense. The prolonged exposure to heat during heatwaves is of special public health concern. High summer-time temperatures pose a significant risk to health even in the current-day climate in northern areas as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total burden of disease caused by heat is poorly known. Exposure to high temperature may lead to various heat illnesses. However, severe cases of heat illness are rare. More often heat stress leads to gradual worsening and acute complications of an existing chronic disease. The severity spectrum of adverse health effects of heat is wide: exposure may increase mortality or the use of health care, or just cause symptoms restricting daily activities. Compared to mortality studies, there are clearly fewer studies on morbidity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adaptation is needed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

National and local protective measures are needed to decrease the current burden of disease caused by heat, but especially to adapt to the relatively rapid on-going changes in climate. Cost-effective adaptation requires targeting measures especially towards vulnerable population groups. Vulnerability may arise because of biological or social factors. Individual\u2019s socio-economic background affects both vulnerability and adaptation possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Management of indoor conditions is the most important adaptive measure. In general, cooling solutions should be energy and environmentally efficient.  As one solution, local cooling systems have been proposed. Health can also be protected by affecting risk behavior, e.g., by increasing population awareness of the risks and improving heat wave warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information on the future burden of disease caused by heat is crucial for the planning and scaling of adaptive measures. State-of-the art climate scenarios are needed for accurate impact assessment. A reliable assessment requires additionally consideration of various societal pathways for the exposed population in different adaptation scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The selection of adaptation measures and the level of adaptation are in the end largely determined by cost factors. Adaptation costs include investment costs and operational costs, and they are reflected further in economy. However, adverse health effects also lead to costs to society in the form of e.g. health care costs and loss in productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The HEATCLIM project tries to answer to a number of research questions covering several disciplines. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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