Fernanda Carvalho

Some authors share the same opinion that climatic and environmental parameters are strongly linked to health. This study investigates the impact of climatic and environmental factors on hypertension, cardiovascular and circulatory system disease admissions in the Faial Hospital. Faial is in the Azores, an insular region of Portugal. With the rise in global climate variability, understanding local effects on public health has become increasingly crucial, particularly in insular regions like the Azores. This research utilizes epidemiological, meteorological, and air quality data from Faial Island, collected from 2010 to 2019, to analyze the correlation between hospital admissions due to hypertension, circulatory and cardiovascular system diseases and variations in meteorological parameters (e.g., daily minimum, daily maximum and daily average temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, thermal amplitude, dew point, average total precipitation and atmospheric pressure at mean sea level) and air pollutants (e.g., nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone and particulate matter with diameter less than ten micrometers). The study uses statistical methods such as time series analysis, weekly percentile intervals, and principal component analysis (PCA). These methods reveal a seasonal pattern in hospital admissions related to meteorological conditions and air quality. Specifically, higher rates of admissions are associated with increased precipitation, wind speed, and temperature fluctuations during winter months. In contrast, summer shows lower admission rates corresponding to lower humidity and precipitation levels. These findings show that human health is highly sensitive to air quality and climatic conditions. This highlights the need for adaptive healthcare strategies amid environmental changes. The insights gained from this study underscore the importance of integrating meteorological and air quality monitoring into public health planning. Integrating monitoring systems is particularly crucial in regions facing dual challenges of climate change and limited healthcare resources. Proactive measures like early warning systems, predictive models, and public awareness campaigns can reduce health risks for vulnerable populations. By addressing critical knowledge gaps, this study contributes to the growing body of evidence on the interconnections between climate, air quality, and public health, providing a foundation for region-specific policies aimed at enhancing resilience to environmental changes. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the climate-health relation, offering a framework for developing region-specific policies to enhance resilience in the face of ongoing global environmental changes.

Building upon our previous research conducted at weekly and monthly intervals, this study investigates the yearly dynamics of weather conditions and air quality on respiratory diseases, specifically tailored to Faial Island in the Azores. Expanding our analysis to a yearly basis allows for a more comprehensive understanding of long-term trends and seasonal variations in hospital admissions. Drawing upon extensive daily data spanning from 2008 to 2019, sourced from the Statistics Service of Hospital da Horta, the Meteorological Observatory Príncipe Alberto de Mónaco, and the Air Quality Monitoring Network of the Azores, we examined the differentiated relationships between yearly meteorological variables, such as temperature, dew point, and wind direction, and respiratory health outcomes. Additionally, we explored the persistent influence of air quality indicators, including suspended particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers (µm) or less (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO₂₎, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂₎, and ozone (O₃), across different seasons and years. By incorporating yearly data into our analysis, this study aims to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the interplay between environmental factors and respiratory disease hospitalizations, thereby informing targeted interventions and public health strategies in insular regions. The principal component analysis (PCA) applied to the yearly data reveals interesting correlation patterns between meteorological variables and hospitalizations for respiratory diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, and rhinitis. Hospital admissions were found to increase during periods of lower temperatures and smaller temperature amplitudes, suggesting that prolonged cold conditions may exacerbate symptoms of these diseases. Additionally, atmospheric pollutant concentrations, such as suspended particles PM10, SO₂, NO₂, and O₃, significantly varied across seasons, with a notable influence on the exacerbation of respiratory diseases. In insular regions like the Azores, these findings highlight the importance of targeted public health strategies to mitigate the impact of environmental factors on respiratory health.

Climate change can have direct and indirect effects on human health. Direct effects can include an increase in extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and floods, as well as an increase in the spread of vector-borne and infectious diseases, which may lead to a set of health problems and diseases. Indirect effects can include changes in air quality, water availability, and food production and distribution. These changes can lead to an increase in respiratory problems, malnutrition, and increased food insecurity. There is a perceived need to investigate the extent to which Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are engaged in efforts to foster a greater understanding of the connections between climate change and health. In this context, this preliminary investigation offers an overview of the relationships between climate change and health. By means of a survey among teaching staff and researchers at HEIs from 42 countries across all continents working on the connection between climate change and health. The study has investigated the extent to which current provisions for education and training on the connection between climate change and health are being considered and how current needs in terms of policy development, research, and training are being met. A series of case studies illustrate how universities worldwide are actively developing strategies and implementing measures to address climate change and health. The study concludes by providing specific recommendations aimed at facilitating the handling of issues related to climate change and health in a higher education context.

In small island regions, the influence of climate change assumes particular relevance. In the Azores archipelago, made up of nine islands, the geographical circumstances, oceanic condition, territorial dispersion, land use model and other physiographic constraints reinforce and enhance the vulnerability of the islands to changes in current weather patterns. Coupled Model Intercomparison Phase 6 (CMIP6) projections are used for the northeast Atlantic region to evaluate daily extreme climate events in large scale for the Azores region. Results shows changes in the annual maximum number of consecutive dry days, the annual number of wet days, and especially in the annual number of tropical nights. Despite limitations due to the lack of spatial detail, the large-scale framework suggests changes that may be enhanced by topography, particularly with respect to precipitation. The conclusions point to the need to establish standard rules in the processes of design, reviewing and/or amending territorial management instruments at the municipal scale in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the goal of adapting to a different climate from the recent past.

The energy sector is the largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, but could also be seriously affected by climate change, calling into question society’s current consumption patterns. In this communication, climate projections based on a set of numerical models of global circulation are used to simulate the climate until the end of the century and keep in mind the alternative scenarios of pollutant emissions. Apart from solar energy, the results for the Azores region show a negative impact on the production and consumption of renewable energies. In the regional context, this issue assumes special relevance, given the geographical constraints, such as territorial discontinuity and insularity. Based on these assumptions, measures and recommendations are pointed out for the sectors that most penalize greenhouse gas emissions, considering the energy sustainability in the Azores and the commitments and goals assumed under international agreements.

Irradiation in the ultraviolet wavelength range is found to be up to 50% lower in the European summer compared to sites with comparable latitudes in New Zealand. We have developed a method to quantitatively attribute the causes for such differences between sites by analysis of spectra. We conclude that these large differences are caused mainly by differences in total ozone, cloudiness, aerosol loading and Sun–Earth separation. The relative contribution of clouds varies from year to year and it is site dependent. Averaged over several years we find a strong latitudinal gradient of the cloud impact within Europe, with much less cloud attenuation in southern Europe. Due to the differences in total ozone and aerosol loading, the UV-B levels are generally lower in Europe compared to New Zealand. It is likely that inter-hemispheric differences will change in coming decades due to a combination of changes in ozone concentrations, air pollution and cloudiness as a result of climate change. However, since the future evolution of these major parameters is highly uncertain, the magnitude and even the sign of such changes are not known yet.

The diurnal and annual variability of solar UV radiation in Europe is described for different latitudes, seasons and different biologic weighting functions. For the description of this variability under cloudless skies the widely used one‐dimensional version of the radiative transfer model UVSPEC is used. We reconfirm that the major factor influencing the diurnal and annual variability of UV irradiance is solar elevation. While ozone is a strong absorber of UV radiation its effect is relatively constant when compared with the temporal variability of clouds. We show the significant role that clouds play in modifying the UV climate by analyzing erythemal irradiance measurements from 28 stations in Europe in summer. On average, the daily erythemal dose under cloudless skies varies between 2.2 kJ m⁻² at 70°N and 5.2 kJ m⁻² at 35°N, whereas these values are reduced to 1.5–4.5 kJ m⁻² if clouds are included. Thus clouds significantly reduce the monthly UV irradiation, with the smallest reductions, on average, at lower latitudes, which corresponds to the fact that it is often cloudless in the Mediterranean area in summer.

Measures of total ozone at Lisbon in July 1996 taken with a differential optical absorption filter instrument (UAM-DOAF) and a Dobson spectrophotometer are compared. Correlation of the UAM-DOAF measures and NOAATOVS data from April to October 1996 and NASA Earth Probe TOMS data from July to October 1996 for Madrid (40 N, 3 W) are given. Results show that the UAM-DOAF instrument can be used with approximately a 3 per cent error in estimating short-term total ozone variations.