Heat, Health, and Habitats: Analyzing the Intersecting Risks of Climate and Demographic Shifts in Austrian Districts

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Schuster, Hannah, Polleres, Axel, Anjomshoaa, Amin, Wachs, Johannes
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Schuster, Hannah
Polleres, Axel
Anjomshoaa, Amin
Wachs, Johannes
author_facet Schuster, Hannah
Polleres, Axel
Anjomshoaa, Amin
Wachs, Johannes
contents The impact of hot weather on health outcomes of a population is mediated by a variety of factors, including its age profile and local green infrastructure. The combination of warming due to climate change and demographic aging suggests that heat-related health outcomes will deteriorate in the coming decades. Here, we measure the relationship between weekly all-cause mortality and heat days in Austrian districts using a panel dataset covering $2015-2022$. An additional day reaching $30$ degrees is associated with a $2.4\%$ increase in mortality per $1000$ inhabitants during summer. This association is roughly doubled in districts with a two standard deviation above average share of the population over $65$. Using forecasts of hot days (RCP) and demographics in $2050$, we observe that districts will have elderly populations and hot days $2-5$ standard deviations above the current mean in just $25$ years. This predicts a drastic increase in heat-related mortality. At the same time, district green scores, measured using $10\times 10$ meter resolution satellite images of residential areas, significantly moderate the relationship between heat and mortality. Thus, although local policies likely cannot reverse warming or demographic trends, they can take measures to mediate the health consequences of these growing risks, which are highly heterogeneous across regions, even in Austria.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_00540
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Heat, Health, and Habitats: Analyzing the Intersecting Risks of Climate and Demographic Shifts in Austrian Districts
Schuster, Hannah
Polleres, Axel
Anjomshoaa, Amin
Wachs, Johannes
Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
The impact of hot weather on health outcomes of a population is mediated by a variety of factors, including its age profile and local green infrastructure. The combination of warming due to climate change and demographic aging suggests that heat-related health outcomes will deteriorate in the coming decades. Here, we measure the relationship between weekly all-cause mortality and heat days in Austrian districts using a panel dataset covering $2015-2022$. An additional day reaching $30$ degrees is associated with a $2.4\%$ increase in mortality per $1000$ inhabitants during summer. This association is roughly doubled in districts with a two standard deviation above average share of the population over $65$. Using forecasts of hot days (RCP) and demographics in $2050$, we observe that districts will have elderly populations and hot days $2-5$ standard deviations above the current mean in just $25$ years. This predicts a drastic increase in heat-related mortality. At the same time, district green scores, measured using $10\times 10$ meter resolution satellite images of residential areas, significantly moderate the relationship between heat and mortality. Thus, although local policies likely cannot reverse warming or demographic trends, they can take measures to mediate the health consequences of these growing risks, which are highly heterogeneous across regions, even in Austria.
title Heat, Health, and Habitats: Analyzing the Intersecting Risks of Climate and Demographic Shifts in Austrian Districts
topic Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.00540