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PubMed2026

Impact of climate change on pediatric health outcomes.

Climate change has become one of the most critical health issues globally in the twenty-first century with children bearing the disproportionate burden of the burden since they are more vulnerable than adults because of their physiological, behavioral, and developmental capacities. It is a systematic review that rates the evidence of the relationship between climatic exposures such as heat, air-pollution, and extreme weather events and pediatric health outcomes. The number of peer-reviewed studies involved was 23 published in 2000-2025, which represented different geographic areas and study designs and assessed acute and chronic health outcomes. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the ROBINS-I tool were used to evaluate the methodological quality, and the majority of the studies had low to moderate risks of bias. The narrative synthesis shows that there are always links between air pollutants especially PM2.5, NO2 and O3 and respiratory morbidity, prevalence of asthma and hospitalization of children. Amplified temperatures as well as heat waves were associated with increased cases of heat illness, dehydration, and febrile state in infants and young children. There were elevated cases of diarrheal and vector-related infections, especially in low-resource settings, which were linked to extreme weather events especially floods. Although the overall results were similar, significant differences in the regions and methods were found, and low-income countries show little evidence. In addition, exposures as analyzed in most studies were usually considered individually, which may have underestimated the cumulative or compound climate risks.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Chill-coma tolerance, a major climatic adaptation among Drosophila species.

Most drosophilid species can be classified either as temperate or tropical. Adults of species were submitted to a cold treatment (0 degrees C) and then brought back to ambient temperature. They generally exhibited a chill coma and the time needed to recover was measured. We found in a set of 26 temperate species that recovery was rapid (average 1.8 min, range 0.15-4.9). In contrast, a long recovery time (average 56 min, range 24-120) was observed for 48 tropical species. A few species, like Drosophila melanogaster, are cosmopolitan and can proliferate under temperate and tropical climates. In 9 of 10 such species, slight genetic differences were found: a shorter recovery in temperate than in tropical populations. Comparing physiological data to phylogeny suggests that chill-coma tolerance has been a recurrent adaptation that is selected for in cold climates but tends to disappear under a permanently warm environment. This major climatic adaptation, evidenced in drosophilids, seems to occur in other insect groups also.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1989

Preparing for climate change.

There is a distinct probability that humankind is changing the climate and at the same time raising the sea level of the world. The most plausible projections we have now suggest a rise in mean world temperature of between 1 degree Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius by 2030--just 40 years hence. This is a bigger change in a smaller period than we know of in the experience of the earth's ecosystems and human societies. It implies that by 2030 the earth will be warmer than at any time in the past 120,000 years. In the same period, we are likely to see a rise of 15-30 centimeters in sea level, partly due to the melting of mountain glaciers and partly to the expansion of the warmer seas. This may not seem much--but it comes on top of the 12-centimeter rise in the past century and we should recall that over 1/2 the world's population lives in zones on or near coasts. A quarter meter rise in sea level could have drastic consequences for countries like the Maldives or the Netherlands, where much of the land lies below the 2-meter contour. The cause of climate change is known as the 'greenhouse effect'. Greenhouse glass has the property that it is transparent to radiation coming in from the sun, but holds back radiation to space from the warmed surfaces inside the greenhouse. Certain gases affect the atmosphere in the same way. There are 5 'greenhouse gases' and we have been roofing ourselves with them all: carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have increased 25% above preindustrial levels and are likely to double within a century, due to tropical forest clearance and especially to the burning of increasing quantities of coal and other fossil fuels; methane concentrations are now twice their preindustrial levels as a result of releases from agriculture; nitrous oxide has increased due to land clearance for agriculture, use of fertilizers, and fossil fuel combustion; ozone levels near the earth's surface have increased due mainly to pollution from motor vehicles; and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been released in great quantities through their use in aerosol sprays, refrigerator fluids, and insulating foams. We can get rid of CFCs and curb the pollutants generating ozone, but it will be difficult to put the brake on either methane or nitrous oxide. And the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions will demand major changes in energy policy as well as action to slow deforestation. It appears that we are already committed to rising temperatures and sea levels. The question is by how much, in which areas? A number of things can be done to prepare for these changes: Governments must recognize that there is a problem; Better models must be worked out, especially to define where the greatest impacts from climate change and sea level rise will hit; Reference scenarios must be developed to see what the impacts are likely to be in ecological, agricultural, social and economic terms; Every country should develop "avoidance strategies" to minimize risk (for example, by not building on land likely to be flooded); We must cut down on the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from human activities, by eliminating CFCs and adopting energy conservation programs and other measures to minimize CO2 release; Global agreements to protect the atmosphere are needed.

Climate↗
PubMed1995

[Comparative study of adaptive responses of the cardiorespiratory system in inhabitants of different climatic-geographic regions].

The paper reports the data of comparative study of the cardiorespiratory function in healthy males (19-22 year old) from the countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America lying within the tropic climatic-geographical zone during acute adaptation to the nature and the climate of the middle zone of Russia. The distinctions in respiration, circulation and gas exchange functions in the natives of different climatic-geographical zones were found as during comparative rest so under the combined effects of hypoxia and hypercapnia induced by the rebreathing test and ascribed to the environmental-genetic constitutional properties of the body and the chronobiological characteristics of the place of abode. Reactivity to the combined effects of hypoxia and hypercapnia in different groups is predominantly a function of unequal contributions of hemodynamics and pulmonary ventilation. A relatively low effectiveness of the cardiorespiratory system in representatives of the South-East Asia during acute adaptation was established. These results demonstrate the benefits of the hypoxic-hypercapnic test for determining functional potentials of the cardiorespiratory system in the context of adaptation to a new environment.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1998

Climatic influences on human body size and proportions: ecological adaptations and secular trends.

This study reevaluates the long-standing observation that human morphology varies with climate. Data on body mass, the body mass index [BMI; mass (kg)/stature (m)2], the surface area/body mass ratio, and relative sitting height (RSH; sitting height/stature) were obtained for 223 male samples and 195 female samples derived from studies published since D.F. Roberts' landmark paper "Body weight, race, and climate" in 1953 (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 11:533-558). Current analyses indicate that body mass varies inversely with mean annual temperature in males (r=-0.27, P < 0.001) and females (r=-0.28, P < 0.001), as does the BMI (males: r=-0.22, P=0.001; females: r=-0.30, P < 0.001). The surface area/body mass ratio is positively correlated with temperature in both sexes (males: r=0.29, P < 0.001; females: r=0.34, P < 0.001), whereas the relationship between RSH and temperature is negative (males: r=-0.37, P < 0.001; females: r=-0.46, P < 0.001). These results are consistent with previous work showing that humans follow the ecological rules of Bergmann and Allen. However, the slope of the best-fit regressions between measures of body mass (i.e., mass, BMI, and surface area/mass) and temperature are more modest than those presented by Roberts. These differences appear to be attributable to secular trends in mass, particularly among tropical populations. Body mass and the BMI have increased over the last 40 years, whereas the surface area/body mass ratio has decreased. These findings indicate that, although climatic factors continue to be significant correlates of world-wide variation in human body size and morphology, differential changes in nutrition among tropical, developing world populations have moderated their influence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Climate and the evolution of skull metrics in man.

Two types of data, anthropometric and gene frequencies, may be used to reconstruct human evolution. Previous research, reconstructing the history of racial differentiation on the basis of gene frequencies, indicated that the major separation between human groups was that between Africans and Europeans on one side and peoples from Australia, East Asia and Americas on the other. A similar attempt by Howells ('73b), based on skull measurements in 17 ancient populations, in agreement with earlier anthropometric data, showed the major separation to be between Africans and Australians on one side and Europeans, Asians and Americans on the other. Climate could be a contributing factor to the observed differences in skull and anthropometric measurements. Howells' data showed high correlations with several climatic indicators. Carrying out the phylogenetic analysis after elimination by linear regression of the effects of climate has resolved to a great extent the discrepancy between anthropometric and gene frequency data.

Africa↗
PubMed1981

Human nasal protrusion, latitude, and climate.

Relationships between morphological features of human skeletal nasal protrusion, latitude, and climate were investigated. Craniofacial dimensions and indices determined by Woo and Morant (1934) on a world sample of 55 skeletal populations were used as dependent variables. Sample sizes were as low as 39 in some calculations because either skeletal or geographic data were missing. Thirteen climatically related averaged variables, for each population's provenience, were the independent variables. Multivariate techniques of bivariate correlation, multiple regression, and partial correlation were applied. A strong, Statistically significant cline of increasing nose protrusion, with decreasing absolute humidity and with increasing latitude, was found. Cold climatic variables appeared to be of greater importance than warm measures. Similarly, absolute humidity was found to be a much better predictor of nose protrusion than was relative humidity.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Genetic variation in North Amerindian populations: covariance with climate.

Allelic frequencies at seven polymorphic loci in 74 North Amerindian populations are examined relative to patterns of climatic variation. Canonical correlation analysis reveals strong and significant associations of heterozygosity at the ABO, Ss, Duffy, and P loci with climatic variability. Principal component analysis demonstrates that these loci tend to form correlated ensembles. Moreover, canonical correlation analysis of component scores provides support for an association between polymorphism at these loci and environmental variability. The results are concordant with two previous investigations which suggested a relationship between polymorphism for the ABO, Duffy, and Diego systems and climate. It is suggested that the examination of broad geographic patterns of genetic variation at multiple loci is a valuable, but underutilized, method of screening for the effects of long-term systematic pressures.

Climate↗
PubMed1995

The potential effects of climate change on winter mortality in England and Wales.

In Britain death rates from several important causes, particularly circulatory and respiratory diseases, rise markedly during the colder winter months. This close association between temperature and mortality suggests that climate change as a result of global warming may lead to a future reduction in excess winter deaths. This paper gives a brief introductory review of the literature on the links between cold conditions and health, and statistical models are subsequently developed of the associations between temperature and monthly mortality rates for the years 1968 to 1988 for England and Wales. Other factors, particularly the occurrence of influenza epidemics, are also taken into account. Highly significant negative associations were found between temperature and death rates from all causes and from chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The statistical models developed from this analysis were used to compare death rates for current conditions with those that might be expected to occur in a future warmer climate. The results indicate that the higher temperatures predicted for 2050 might result in nearly 9000 fewer winter deaths each year with the largest contribution being from mortality from ischaemic heart disease. However, these preliminary estimates might change when further research is able to make into account a number of additional factors affecting the relationship between mortality and climate.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1994

Climatic adaptation of laying hens.

Three hundred Warren Isabrown female day old chicks were raised for 18 weeks in 3 distinct artificial climates described as temperate (20 degrees C, 60% RH), hot dry (32 degrees C, 40% RH) and hot humid (32 degrees C, 90% RH). At 18 weeks each group was divided into 3 and re-allocated to 3 similar air-conditioned laying rooms as during the growing period. Different diets were fed to the 3 groups up to 18 weeks. The energy needed in order to produce the same average live body weight at 18 weeks was similar in all the 3 climatic chambers. The effect of treatments in the growing period was not significantly different (P > 0.05) for most of the parameters subsequently measured during the laying period. The exception was the body weight gain between 18 and 38 weeks and the food and energy intakes. However, apart from the sexual maturity, all these parameters were negatively influenced (P < 0.05) by the effect of hot climates during the laying period irrespective of method of rearing. The results of this study seem to indicate that ambient temperature experienced during the first 18 weeks after hatching has little effect on subsequent productivity and that rearing birds at high ambient temperature does not acclimatise them to these conditions better than rearing them under temperate conditions.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1997

Biometeorological studies on urban climate.

Urban-biometeorology, i.e., biometeorological study on the urban climate is regarded as both old and/or new science. Studies on two topics are reviewed: the thermal or chemical impact of urban climate on human health, and the relation between urban climate and vegetation.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2002

Climatic and stream-flow controls on tree growth in a Western montane riparian forest.

Humans have severely impacted riparian ecosystems through water diversions, impoundments, and consumptive uses. Effective management of these important areas is becoming an increasingly high priority of land managers, particularly as municipal, industrial, and recreational demands for water increase. We examined radial tree growth of four riparian tree species ( Pinus jeffreyi, Populus trichocarpa, Betula occidentalis, and Pinus monophylla) along Bishop Creek, California, and developed models relating basal area increment (BAI) and relative basal area increment (RBAI) to climatic and stream flow variables. Between years 1995-1999, univariate regression analysis with stream flow explained 29 to 61% of the variation in BAI and RBAI among all species except P. trichocarpa; growth by P. trichocarpa was not significantly related to stream flows over this period. Stepwise linear regression indicated that species responded differently to climatic variables, and models based on these variables explained between 33 to 86% of variation in BAI and RBAI during the decade of the 1990s. We examined branch growth of P. trichocarpa for sensitivity to differences in stream flow regimes and found that annual branch growth did not vary between a high- and low-flow site, but that annual branch growth was significantly higher in wet years with greater stream flows. Our results support the establishment of site-specific management goals by land managers that take into account all of the important tree species present in riparian ecosystems and their differential responses to altered hydrologic condition. Instream flow requirements for maintaining tree growth and vigor are only one of the species-specific responses that need to be evaluated, and these assessments should attempt to separate experimentally stream-flow (managed) controls from climatic (unmanaged) controls on growth.

Betula↗
PubMed2003

Population, development, and waste management in Botswana: conceptual and policy implications for climate change.

Based on government and other relevant documentation, this paper explores the conceptual linkage between population, development, and waste management in Botswana and the implications of this relationship for global climate change. Population is increasing, albeit at a decreasing rate. Spatially, the population is becoming more and more concentrated as the rates and level of urbanization increase. Economic growth has remained consistently high. The combined effect of population dynamics and economic development are having a noticeable imprint on the environment in the form of increased waste generation. Poor waste management poses a real threat to environmental sustainability in general and climate change in particular because of inadequate technology, weak institutional mechanisms to enforce regulations, and low levels of sensitization among the public to deal with the problem. Mitigation measures are suggested to minimize the negative effects of waste management on climate change.

Botswana↗
PubMed2003

The influence of climate on the basal metabolic rate of small mammals: a slow-fast metabolic continuum.

The influence of climate (mean annual rainfall, rainfall variability, ambient temperature, T(a)) on the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of 267 small mammals (<1 kg) from six zoogeographical zones was investigated using conventional and phylogenetically independent data (linear contrasts). All climate variables varied between zones, as did BMR and body temperature ( T(b)), but not thermal conductance. Holarctic zones were more seasonal and colder, but rainfall was less variable, than non-Holarctic zones. In general, the BMR was most strongly influenced by body mass, followed by T(a) and the rainfall variables. However, there was significant variation in the strength of these relationships between zones. BMR and T(b) increased with latitude, and mass-independent BMR and T(b) were positively correlated. The latter relationship offers evidence of a slow-fast metabolic continuum in small mammals. The fast end of the continuum (high BMR) is associated with the highest latitudes where BMR is most strongly influenced by T(a) and mean annual rainfall (i.e. mean productivity). The slow end of the continuum (low BMR) is associated with the semi-tropics, low productivity zones, and climatically unpredictable zones, such as deserts. Here rainfall variability has the strongest influence on BMR after body size. The implications of a slow-fast metabolic continuum are discussed in terms of various models associated with the evolution of BMR, such as the aerobic capacity models and the "energetic definition of fitness" models.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed2004

Does climate at different scales influence the phenology and phenotype of the River Warbler Locustella fluviatilis?

Weather and climatic conditions may impact on the phenology and morphology of birds, and thereby affect their survival rate and population dynamics. We examined the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), precipitation in the Sahel zone, temperatures in the wintering grounds, on the migration route, and in the breeding area in relation to arrival dates and six morphological measures (wing, tarsus, bill, and tail lengths, body mass, body condition) in a Slovak population of the River Warbler Locustella fluviatilis. Arrival dates did not change significantly over the study period, but were significantly positively correlated with NAO, although not with temperatures in wintering areas, migration route or breeding area, nor with Sahel precipitation. Four of the six morphological traits changed during the study period and part of the change in condition index can be attributed to climatic variables. We suggest changes in birds' phenotype vary with food availability, which fluctuate according to climate events.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Effects of food abundance, density and climate change on reproduction in the sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus.

The reproductive success of predators depends on abiotic environmental conditions, food abundance and population density, and food abundance, density and their interactions may respond to changes in climatic conditions. Timing of reproduction by five of the eight numerically most common prey of the sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus advanced significantly since 1971, during a period of temperature increase. There was no evidence that mean laying date or any other reproductive parameter of sparrowhawks changed consistently during the study period 1977-1997. Laying date advanced and percentage of unsuccessful female sparrowhawks decreased with beech mast in the current year, an index of food abundance for avian prey. Mean laying date of sparrowhawks was advanced in warmer springs, and although mean clutch size was not larger in warm than in cold springs, mean brood size of successful pairs and breeding success increased in such springs, showing that sparrowhawks enjoyed a fitness gain when reproducing early. The timing of sparrowhawk reproduction with respect to the peak in abundance of fledgling prey increased, from a good match between mean timing of fledging by prey and maximum demand for food by the predator in 1977, to reproduction occurring later than the peak in fledging prey availability in 1997. The size of the breeding population of sparrowhawks was not predicted by mean spring temperature, the size of the breeding population the previous year or beech mast crop. The size of the post-breeding population was predicted by size of the breeding and post-breeding population the previous year and by the proportion of unsuccessful females the current year. These findings imply that sparrowhawks did not respond to change in climate, although climate changed the timing of reproduction by the main prey species.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Coupling between carbon cycling and climate in a high-elevation, subalpine forest: a model-data fusion analysis.

Fundamental questions exist about the effects of climate on terrestrial net ecosystem CO(2) exchange (NEE), despite a rapidly growing body of flux observations. One strategy to clarify ecosystem climate-carbon interactions is to partition NEE into its component fluxes, gross ecosystem CO(2) exchange (GEE) and ecosystem respiration (R (E)), and evaluate the responses to climate of each component flux. We separated observed NEE into optimized estimates of GEE and R (E) using an ecosystem process model combined with 6 years of continuous flux data from the Niwot Ridge AmeriFlux site. In order to gain further insight into the processes underlying NEE, we partitioned R (E) into its components: heterotrophic (R (H)) and autotrophic (R (A)) respiration. We were successful in separating GEE and R (E), but less successful in accurately partitioning R (E) into R (A) and R (H). Our failure in the latter was due to a lack of adequate contrasts in the assimilated data set to distinguish between R (A) and R (H). We performed most model runs at a twice-daily time step. Optimizing on daily-aggregated data severely degraded the model's ability to separate GEE and R (E). However, we gained little benefit from using a half-hourly time step. The model-data fusion showed that most of the interannual variability in NEE was due to variability in GEE, and not R (E). In contrast to several previous studies in other ecosystems, we found that longer growing seasons at Niwot Ridge were correlated with less net CO(2) uptake, due to a decrease of available snow-melt water during the late springtime photosynthetic period. Warmer springtime temperatures resulted in increased net CO(2) uptake only if adequate moisture was available; when warmer springtime conditions led into mid-summer drought, the annual net uptake declined.

Altitude↗
PubMed2004

Heat requirement for the onset of the Olea europaea L. pollen season in several sites in Andalusia and the effect of the expected future climate change.

Olives are one of the largest crops in the Mediterranean region, especially in Andalusia, in southern Spain. A thermal model has been developed for forecasting the start of the olive tree pollen season at five localities in Andalusia: Cordoba, Priego, Jaen, Granada and Malaga using airborne pollen and meteorological data from 1982 to 2001. Threshold temperatures varied between 5 degrees C and 12.5 degrees C depending on bio-geographical characteristics. The external validity of the results was tested using the data for the year 2002 as an independent variable and it confirmed the model's accuracy with only a few days difference from predicted values. All the localities had increasingly earlier start dates during the study period. This could confirm that olive flower phenology can be considered as a sensitive indicator of the effects of climate fluctuations in the Mediterranean area. The theoretical impact of the predicted climatic warming on the olive's flowering phenology at the end of the century is also proposed by applying Regional Climate Model data. A general advance, from 1 to 3 weeks could be expected, although this advance will be more pronounced in mid-altitude inland areas.

Climate↗