sport

The risk of heat stress to people

Authors: 
Kjellstrom T, Woodward A, Gohar L, Lowe J, Lemke B, Lines L, Briggs D, Freyberg C, Otto M, Hyatt O (2015) . In: King D, Schrag D, Dadi Z, Ye Q, Ghosh A, Eds.
Year: 
2015

First paragraph of book chapter: The human body has behavioural and physical mechanisms that work to maintain its core temperature at about 37°C. If the body’s internal temperature rises above this level, then body systems and vital physiological functions are compromised, and in severe cases, death can result. The climatic conditions relevant to such heat stress may be measured in terms of the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), which takes account of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation.1 We calculate WBGT for in-shade (no

The last Summer Olympics? Climate change, health, and work outdoors

Authors: 
Kirk R Smith, Alistair Woodward, Bruno Lemke, Matthias Otto, Cindy J Chang, Anna A Mance, John Balmes, Tord Kjellstrom
Year: 
2016

Climate change threatens human health in many ways, through heat waves, extreme weather events, and shifts in disease vectors, as well as economic and social stresses on populations living in or trying to escape areas affected by seawater intrusion, drought, lower agricultural productivity, and floods. 1 In the short term, most of these impacts could be substantially ameliorated by actions to reduce background disease risks and other known causes of vulnerability.