Colloque DESS: Urban heat islands and their impact on temperature-related mortality

Stimuler la réflexion, s’ouvrir à de nouvelles perspectives, suivre l’actualité des recherches, des pratiques et des initiatives en santé publique, débattre; autant de fonctions remplies par les colloques du Département épidémiologie et systèmes de santé (DESS). A chaque session, des spécialistes d’horizons divers viennent présenter l’état de leurs recherches, leurs expériences ou leurs projets.

Ces colloques sont ouverts au publics. Ils s’adressent aux professionnelles et professionnels de la santé et sont notamment recommandés par la Société suisse des spécialistes en prévention et santé publique (SPHD) pour la reconnaissance de la formation continue.

Title

Urban heat islands and their impact on temperature-related mortality

Non-optimal ambient temperatures, both heat and cold, are associated with elevated human mortality risk. Urbanization generally alter the local climate, causing the so-called urban heat island effect which can amplify the risk associated with extreme heat during summer, but also shield against extreme cold during wintertime.

In this talk I will discuss the drivers of urban heat islands and present a monetized risk analysis for 85 European cities using high-resolution air temperature simulations and age-dependent exposure-response relationships. Results reveal a non-linear relation between the level of imperviousness and risk, with opposite trends for heat and cold. While extreme heat days increase the mortality costs in dense urban areas compared to the surrounding rural regions, on an annual basis UHIs have weak net protective effects due to the wintertime benefits.

These results suggest that mitigation efforts should account for spatial heterogeneities of climate and vulnerability but also the seasonality of risk.

Speaker

• Dr. Gabriele Manoli 
  • Director of the Laboratory of Urban and Environmental Systems (URBES) at l'EPFL. His research focuses on ecohydrology, urban climate, and the structure and dynamics of cities

Participation

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