Can't stand the heat? Climate Change, Thermal Comfort and Health
2022 was the hottest year on record in the UK, being in the top 10 hottest globally. We know with this global heating that heatwaves are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity. For Europe the heatwaves of summer of 2022 can be considered to be the most impactful since that seen for the continent in 2003. This is because of the high mortality rate and infrastructure challenges for example data centers shutting. However, heatwave impacts are subjected to under-reporting across sectors, leading to them being known as invisible or silent killers. Climate Change and Extreme Heat presents a number of health challenges whether this is a rise in death rates in the over 65s, a raised risk of pre-term birth in pregnant mothers or a higher incidence of kidney disease in outdoor workers because of dehydration, which are cross-sectional in nature. In this talk I will outline some of the uses of thermal comfort indices for the health sector and how they contribute to psychological pathways different to temperature alone.
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, is an award-winning Early Career Researcher in Climate Change and Health and Science Communications. Her research focuses on heatwaves and health. She completed her PhD at the end of 2022 at the University of Reading in partnership with the Walker Institute. She is now based at the University of Graz, Austria as a Post-Doc on the project HIGH Horizons, This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101057843. Focusing on Maternal, Child and Health worker health in parts of the EU and Africa. She has also been featured across the press including on CNN, the BBC and Sky News talking about heatwaves.