Human biometeorology

Abstract

Human biometeorology is experiencing resurgence because of concerns about the impact of weather and climate on living organisms and the effects of human activities on the atmospheric environment. The purpose of this progress report is to review recent research in three strongly emergent areas of human biometeorology, namely human thermal comfort assessment, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and climate and vector borne disease. Within the field of human thermal comfort assessment there is evidence of a shift away from empirical two-variable to numerically solved human heat budget based indices for assessing human thermal comfort, although the former are still applied widely. Recent research activity concerning UVR has focused on the evaluation of measurement error, the examination of controlling factors, the reconstruction of long-term records using a variety of methods for the analysis of UVR trends and variability and climate change related projections of future UVR levels. While for some regions clear evidence has emerged of an association between climate and vector borne disease, for other regions the situation is unclear or complex. This poses a challenge for developing climate-based early warning systems for diseases such as malaria and dengue and making projections of the potential impacts of climate change on the geographic range and magnitude of VBD. From the material reviewed in this progress report it is clear that human biometeorology fits comfortably within physical geography as it addresses many of the issues aligned with the human-environment, spatial and earth science traditions of physical geography.