Arnold van Vliet, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands; W. Bron
During our presentation we will discuss our plans for setting up Nature Today. Nature Today aims to be an organization that will publish daily news from nature and environment from local to possibly global scale. The large and continuous ecological responses to changes in weather, climate and other environmental variables are relevant for and interesting to many people. We see possibilities for Nature Today to generate financial resources, institutional and societal support for ecological or environmental monitoring projects and their related research activities.
The ideas for Nature Today originate from the Dutch phenological network Nature's Calendar that we revived in 2001. Since then we set up a number of related citizen science networks that focus on, for example, hay fever, ticks & Lyme disease and mosquitoes. We have been very successful in generating public attention for our projects. The launch of the Dutch nature news website Natuurbericht.nl on which we publish two nature reports per day significantly helped in bridging the gap between scientists, journalists and the public.
It, however, remains a continuous struggle to find the required funding for continuation of our monitoring programs and the accompanying research activities. This will not be very different for most phenological networks, (long-term) monitoring networks or many scientific projects in general. One reason is probably that most scientists miss the ‘business gene' and we are not trained to actively commercialize and communicate our knowledge. It is probably even not done to think of business opportunities.
In the past year we participated in various business acceleration programs in the Netherlands.
Besides becoming familiar with a whole new world we became even more convinced that many scientists have numerous opportunities to better connect their data, their models and their knowledge to the interest of the general public and specific target groups. More importantly, we think that many people, stakeholders and organizations are willing to pay for the information or to support the networks/projects in other ways. To make this happen Nature Today will: 1)Help environmental scientists and scientific organizations to present their data and knowledge in the right way (form, timing, language, etc.); 2)Connect scientists and journalists; 3)Offer scientists the network, platform and tools to get their data and knowledge to large amount of potentially interested people. 4)Help in identifying and realizing ‘business opportunities'.
We hope that we can inspire participants to consider involvement in Nature Today and that they are willing to help us in validating our assumptions.
7B.2
ClimateWatch: Australia's phenological citizen science program Phenology III: Observations
Lynda E. Chambers, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; C.
Gillies, L. Ashcroft and M. R. Keatley
ClimateWatch is a phenology monitoring program developed by Earthwatch Institute with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and The University of Melbourne. The nation-wide program encourages all Australians to observe the world around them and record sightings of over 170 indicator plant and animal species, covering the tropics, temperate, arid, alpine and marine zones.
Indicator species were selected based on four mandatory and 10 optional criteria, designed to maximise community engagement and minimise misidentification among untrained observers.
Observations are recorded using an online interface or a free smartphone app. ClimateWatch users can make sightings anywhere in Australia, including at more than 40 self-guided trails in urban parks, botanic gardens and education centres.
Since 2009, over 13,000 Australians have registered for ClimateWatch, contributing in excess of 60,000 sightings. The program is currently used by nine universities across Australia to teach biology and scientific observation techniques, resulting in more than 4000 new phenologists in training every year.
This presentation will describe the implementation of ClimateWatch across Australia, including its unique engagement with the tertiary sector. Spatial and observation biases in the dataset will be discussed, as well as the issues associated with collecting data from such a wide network.
Preliminary analysis suggests that with the correct approach, observations from the ClimateWatch network provide valuable data to analyse phenological changes across Australia.
7B.3
Plant Phenological Reconstructions and Temperature Sensitivity in Beijing in the Past 100 Years Phenology III: Observations
TAO zexing, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China; W. huanjiong, G. quansheng and D.
junhu
Plant phenology can reflect the climate change very sensitively. Reconstructing long-term phenological time series could contribute to the study of the climate-vegetation relationship from a historical perspective. However, previous studies have some problems in the interpolation method of missing data, the reconstruction method of time series as well as the uncertainty analysis. To overcome these problem, we use modern phenological observation data to calibrate the transfer functions between different phenophases and first flowering date (FFD) of lilac (Syringa oblata), and reconstructed the lilac FFD in Beijing over the past 100 years based on the historical records.
Meanwhile, we assess the associated reconstruction uncertainty. In addition, the 30-year moving trend, temperature sensitivity and abrupt change in the reconstructed phenological time series are analyzed. The moving linear trend analysis suggests that the spring phenophase in Beijing fluctuated about 36 days in the past 100 years. The spring phenophase showed advancing trend in all the 30-year period after 1980. The maximum trend of -0.46 days/30-year is found between 1979 and 2009.
However, the trends slowed down in the recent 10 years. The sensitivity of spring plant phenology to the March-May temperature ranged from 1.5 days /°C to 5.6 days /°C. Temperature sensitivities were greater during every 30-year periods with the center year from 1930s onwards. It is worth noting that after the 1980s, temperature sensitivities became continuous greater. Finally, the moving t-test showed a common shift towards earlier FFD in 1982 in temperature and plant phenological records.
7B.4
Phenological environmental assessment indicators – proposing an international standard Phenology III: Observations
K. Bolmgren, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Asa, Lammhult, Sweden; B. I. Cook, Dahl and O. Langvall
Phenological change is the most obvious ecological effect of climate change on ecosystem properties, processes and services. Estimates of phenological change are increasingly being used in environmental, ecological and climate change assessments, both at the international (e.g. IPCC WG2) and national levels (e.g. NCA, USA). Despite of this, there is no international standard for the analytical procedures (A), no standard for the pheno-metrics (PM), no standard for baselines (B), and no standard for data quality classification (QC). The phenology monitoring community represents a wide range of systems – from professional to volunteer observers, from developing systems to those that have been working for over a century, from spatially large networks to point observations, from systems with a focus on agriculture to those more oriented to wildlife. To be able to merge data from these different systems and to provide widely applicable pheno-metric products, there is a great need for a common standard. We present a proposal for a phenological environmental assessment indicator standard. Standardized quality classification (QC) includes four levels: (QC1) Observer self-validation. (QC2) Error check (e.g. of required phase order) leading to flagging of erroneous data to exclude from the analysis. (QC3) Outlier check of both single observations and inter-annual variation leading to parallel analyses with/without flagged outliers.
Outlier check should be based on (i) models using historical data and (ii) models using present-year neighboring observations. (QC4) Image-based confirmation that can overrun (QC3) flagging decisions. As a standardized baseline (B), we propose estimated phenology data for the climatological standard periods (e.g. 1961-90), using a phenology model that has been calibrated regionally. We propose two different pheno-metrics: The first (PM1) is simply number of days deviation from the baseline, B, and the second (PM2) is the proportion of deviation compared to the local, meteorologically defined, vegetation period. Analysis could be (A1n) single-year estimates, (A2n) short period averages based on at least 5 years of data, or (A3n) long-term averages based on at least 30 years of consecutive data. A1n-A3n could be presented as (Am1) point estimates or (Am2) spatial averages based on at least 10 separate stations with data overlapping in time. Indices, combining different species+phase combinations, can be developed if all included combinations can be referred to the same, minimum level of (Amn). We present an example of pheno-metrics (PM) developed for the Swedish Environmental Assessment and Environmental Objectives, and how we applied the proposed quality classification (QC), two different types of baseline (B), and analytical procedures (A) using historical and present-day data from the Swedish National Phenology Network.
7B.5
Exploring Geographically Variant Climatic Requirements of Plant Phenology through Common Garden Observations
Phenology III: Observations
Liang Liang, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
A more detailed understanding of population-level variations in plant phenology and the corresponding environmental drivers is crucial for monitoring and predicting geographically different phenological responses to climate change. Here I report an on-going project observing spring and fall phenology of an important native forest species Fraxinus americana (white ash) in a common garden/plantation in Kentucky, U. S. A total of 41 populations from across the species' distribution range are represented at this site. Weekly visual phenology surveys were conducted in spring and fall seasons of 2013, and spring season of 2014 (with the fall 2014 observation anticipated). Concurrent temperature variations have been recorded at the common garden with automatic data loggers. Preliminary results showed that in 2013 the southern populations demonstrated earlier spring leaf bud burst and later autumn leaf coloration and leaf fall than the northern populations. In spring 2014, with a delayed phenology overall, the southern populations obscurely appeared to show later leaf bud burst, and with frost damage observed on some of the trees from these populations. The 2012-2013 winter was warmer than normal, and the 2013-2014 winter had record low temperatures followed by a cold spring.
I hypothesize that the spring phenology timing of white ash is controlled by a strong chilling requirement with a less influential warming requirement, and the northern populations require more chilling (and less warming) than the southern populations. This is supported by the delayed phenology with the northern populations after a relatively warm winter in spring 2013. When the chilling requirement was fulfilled very early in spring 2014, the effect of warming was more manifested, leading to earlier phenology for the northern populations. Due to the quick response to warmth after the abundant chilling for some of the southern populations in 2014, frost injury occurred and may have confounded the phenological observations for some individuals. Moreover, the differential photoperiod requirement is also useful for explaining the geographic patterns in 2013, which may serve as an alternative hypothesis. However, given the observed interannual variations, these environmental factors are unlikely to operate alone, but are most possibly coupled with one another. More in-depth study of both the spring and autumn phenology (with additional data to be collected) of this particular species with the environmental drivers may provide important insight on and facilitate building a modeling framework for assessing geographically explicit climate change impact on plant phenology.
7B.6
Impacts of climate change on the Taraxacum mongolicum growing season in the temperate zone of eastern China
Phenology III: Observations
Xiaoqiu Chen, Peking University, Beijing, China
Using leaf unfolding and leaf coloration data of a widely distributed herbaceous species, Taraxacum mongolicum, we detected linear trends of the growing season and identified responses of the growing season to temperature at 52 stations from 1990 to 2009. Across the temperate zone of eastern China, the growing season beginning date advanced nonsignificantly, while the growing
season end date was delayed significantly at a rate of 3.2 days per decade and the growing season length was prolonged significantly at a rate of 5.5 days per decade. At individual stations, linear trends of the beginning date correlate negatively with linear trends of spring temperature, whereas linear trends of the end date and length correlate positively with linear trends of autumn temperature and annual mean temperature. Moreover, linear trends of the growing season are also closely related to responses of the growing season to temperature and geo-location parameters. Regarding to growing season response to temperature, a 1°C increase in spring temperature may induce an advancement of 2.1 days in the beginning date of the growing season, while a 1°C increase in autumn temperature may cause a delay of 2.3 days in the end date of the growing season, and a 1°C increase in annual mean temperature may result in an extension of 8.7 days in the length of the growing season over the research region. At individual stations, response of the beginning date to spring temperature depends obviously on local annual mean temperature and geo-location parameters. Namely, a 1°C increase in spring temperature may induce a larger advancement of the beginning date at warmer locations with smaller latitudes and longitudes than at colder locations with larger latitudes and longitudes, while a 1°C increase in spring temperature may cause a larger advancement of the beginning date at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes.
7C.1
Temperature and human health
Thermal Environment and Human Health II
Lev Osipov, Institute of Cytology, Novosibirsk, Russia Temperature influences human health.
7C.2
Vulnerability Among the Elderly to Extreme Heat-Associated Cardiovascular Mortality in Michigan, 2000-2009
Thermal Environment and Human Health II
Carina J. Gronlund, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; K. C. Conlon, Y. Ou and M. S. O'Neill Background: A better understanding of which populations are most vulnerable to the health effects of extreme heat will help communities adapt to climate change. Previous research has suggested that vulnerability is enhanced among individuals with certain socio-demographic characteristics, e.g., black race, advanced age, low educational attainment and low income. Additionally, vulnerability may be increased among individuals who lack adequate transportation to reach cooler locations; who reside in older homes that may have inadequate weatherproofing; and/or who live amidst areas with high levels of impervious surfaces, which increase ambient temperature.
Cardiovascular mortality, particularly in cool climates such as Michigan, has been associated with extreme heat.
Objectives: Our objectives were 1) to determine if the extreme-heat-cardiovascular mortality association was present among Michigan elderly in 2000-2009 and 2) to determine which characteristics modified the association between extreme heat and cardiovascular mortality.
Methods: We used the following data: 1) geocoded death records from ten Michigan counties from the Michigan Department of Community Health (including date and causes of death, age, race and educational attainment), 2) daily mean temperature and humidity from the nearest airport weather station from the National Climatic Data Center, 3) Census block group characteristics from the
2005-2009 American Community Survey (median income among individuals aged 65 years and older and percents of residents in poverty, homes built before 1940 and residents aged 65 years and older without a vehicle), and 4) National Land Cover Data Set percent imperviousness (averaged at radii of 90m, 150m, 300m, 600m and 1.5km). For each county we calculated daily apparent temperature, which is based on temperature and dew point. We defined extreme heat exposure as four-day mean apparent temperature at or above the 97th percentile of four-day mean apparent temperature for that location from 2000-2009. We employed a time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression to assess the association between cardiovascular death and extreme heat, and we assessed vulnerability as interactions between extreme heat and each characteristic of interest in individual models. Significant interactions were then included together in a single model.
Continuous measures were mean centered and standardized for an interquartile range increase.
Results: In models with only a single interaction, the odds of cardiovascular mortality were increased during extreme heat vs. non-extreme heat among individuals of black race (19%, 95%
Confidence Interval: 9%-31%), residing in areas with high (68%) percent imperviousness within 1.5km (13%, 95% CI: 5%-22%) and residing in block groups with: high (46%) proportions of homes built before 1940 (26%, 95% CI: 8%-48%) and high (43%) proportions of households with at least 0.51 occupants per room (33%, 95% CI: 5%-68%). In models with all these interaction terms included simultaneously, these effects were all attenuated and non-significant. In a model with all these terms except black race, the effects of homes built before 1940 and imperviousness within 1.5km remained significant.
Conclusions: Surrounding imperviousness and living in an older home may confer vulnerability to extreme heat in Michigan. Increased vulnerability among individuals of black race may be at least partially mediated by characteristics of the built environment. Future adaptation efforts should improve housing quality and decrease the effects of impervious surfaces on ambient temperature.
7C.3
Influence of the Thermal Environment on IHD Mortality and Morbidity in Germany (2001-2010) Thermal Environment and Human Health II
Christina Koppe, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Offenbach, Germany; S. Zacharias, D. Bernhard and H. G. Muecke
There is some evidence from the literature that the atmospheric environment influences the frequency of acute cardiovascular problems. In our study we analyzed the influence of meteorological parameters on the occurrence of ischemic heart diseases (IHD, ICD codes I20-I25), a subgroup of cardiovascular diseases in Germany. Data on the daily occurrence of IHD death rates and hospital admission rates were provided for the period 2001-2010 on a regional resolution of NUTS2 for Germany by the Federal Research Data Center. In total about 7.5 million cases of hospital admissions and about 1.5 million IHD deaths occurred in the studied period. We analyzed total IHD mortality (ICD codes I20 – I25), for women and men separately as well as the subgroups I20-I22 (mainly myocardial infarctions) and I24-I25 (other acute and chronic ischemic heart diseases). Since the daily numbers of IHD deaths and/or hospital admissions were low in several regions, these regions were aggregated for data protection reasons. Daily mortality rates were detrended and corrected for the course of the year. Morbidity data were additionally corrected for the weekly course. We found a strong relationship between the thermal environment and daily mortality rates.
In order to describe the thermal environment we used daily averages of air temperature, perceived temperature and humidex. The differences in the shape and strength of the relationship between these parameters / indexes and IHD mortality were small. Therefore results are described for daily
mean temperature. The detrended mortality data that were not corrected for the course of the year, showed the typical V-or U-shape relationship with the thermal environment. The lowest mortality rates occurred at daily mean temperatures between 15°C and 19°C. Below and above this range, mortality increased nearly linearly. We found that the increase below this thermal optimum was mainly due to the seasonal feature. The mortality rates that were corrected for the course of the year didn't show any increase in mortality below the optimum temperature. An exception was the mortality with ICD codes I20-I22 (mainly myocardial infarctions) that was increasing also after correction for the course of the year at very low daily mean temperatures (< -7°C). Apart from absolute values of air-temperature we also analyzed the influence of changes compared to the previous day. The relative risk of IHD mortality increased for increases of air-temperature of more than 5°C for men and ICD codes I24-I25 (other acute and chronic ischemic heart diseases) and for decreases of more than 3°C for women and ICD codes I24-I24 and of more than 5°C also for men and ICD codes I20-I22. We couldn't find any significant relationship between the number of hospital admissions due to ischemic heart diseases and the analyzed meteorological parameters.
We also analyzed the increase in morbidity and mortality during heat-waves. A heat wave in this study was identified when at least three consecutive days exceeded the 97.5th percentile of daily mean temperature. During heat waves the daily risk for IHD mortality increased on average by 15 %.
Women were more affected than men (women: 19 %, men: 11 %).We couldn't find any increase in the number of hospital admissions during heat-waves. This was the first study analyzing the relationship between IHD morbidity and mortality all over Germany. We were able to demonstrate that there is a significant increase in IHD mortality in Germany especially on days with high average temperatures and heat-waves. The high numbers of IHD mortality rates in winter show only little relationship to average temperatures when corrected for the course of the year. A potential relationship between the atmospheric environment and IHD morbidity remains unclear.
Acknowledgments: This work was funded by the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety as part of the project UFOPLAN-371161238 “Climate change, bioclimatology and health effects” (2012-2014), embedded in the German Adaptation Strategy to climate change.
7C.4
Possible role of acclimatization in weather-related human mortality during the transition seasons of autumn and spring in an extreme continental climate
Thermal Environment and Human Health II
CR de Freitas, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; E. Grigorieva
Statistical evidence shows that human mortality is closely related to levels of thermal environmental stress and resulting thermophysiological strain. Most climate-mortality research has focused on seasonal extremes when mortality is highest (winter) or most affected by extreme heat events (summer). Relatively little research has considered patterns of mortality, during the transitional seasons of autumn and spring. The body acclimatizes to heat in summer and cold in winter and readjusts through acclimatization during the transitions between the two. Consequently, the thermophysiological strain of re-adjustment may be expected to occur in the changeover seasons of spring and autumn. This adaptation period is not risk free, so it may be necessary to take into account the impact of the change in physiological well-being during the period of adjustment.
To better understand the influences of weather on mortality through the acclimatization process, the aim here is examine the periods that link summer and winter. The study uses the Acclimatization
Thermal Strain Index (ATSI), which is a relative measure of short-term thermophysiological impact on the body. ATSI centers on heat exchange with the body's core via the respiratory system, which cannot be protected. Respiration is the body-environment heat exchange process in which the body is in closest contact with the ambient air. There are no behavioral or other adjustments to prevent the ambient air entering into the body's core area through the respiratory tract. ATSI describes the acclimatization thermal loading (ATL) on respiratory organs until full adaptation is achieved. Unlike widely used bioclimatic indices, ATSI is a relative measure, based on physiological responses known to negatively impact human wellbeing. The analysis here is based on data for Khabarovsk, a major city in the climatic region of the Russian Far East characterized by very hot summers and extremely cold winters.
The results suggest that the most severe thermal strain occurs with the adjustment shift from hot-humid to cold, in that mortality data show that the sensitivity of the body to the acclimatization process to cold during autumn is greater than the seasonal shift to heat during spring. Although mortality peaks in winter (January) and is at its lowest in summer (August), there is not a smooth rise through autumn. A secondary peak occurs in autumn (October), but nothing similar is evident in spring. This suggests the acclimatization transition from warm-to-cold produces more thermophysiological strain than the transition from cold-to-warm, which is apparent in the high coefficient of correlation between mortality and ATSI in autumn. The results show the extent to which biophysical adaptation plays a role in increased strain on the body during re-acclimatization and for this reason is a more appropriate climatic indictor than air temperature alone. The work gives useful bioclimatic information on risks involved in transitional seasons in regions characterized by climatic extremes. This could be helpful in planning and managing health services to the public and measures that might be used to help mitigate impacts.
7C.5
Regional differences of heat and cold stress in Europe and their influence on human health and well being
Thermal Environment and Human Health II
Krzysztof Blazejczyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland; A. Blazejczyk and J.
Baranowski
Actual atmospheric conditions strongly influence human organism. Special attention is usually paid either on comfort zone or on thermal extremes. It is well documented influence of cold and heat stress on the human health and well being. Till now, many various bioclimatic indices were in use to assess thermal conditions from the point of view of human thermal perception, tourism and recreation as well as mortality and morbidity rates. In the present paper heat and cold stress differentiation in Europe was assessed with the use of Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). The data for 10 years period (1991-2000) from about 20 European meteorological stations were applied.
Regional and seasonal differences of thermal extremes as well as their day-to-day variability are analysed. The observed differences are the background for the assessment of the influence of bioclimatic conditions on human health and well being in particular regions in Europe. We have found great regional and seasonal variability in heat and cold stress in Europe. The researches confirm great differences between southern and northern as well as between western and eastern parts of the continent. However, some unexpected results related to frequencies of hot and cold thermal extremes were found for the stations located in central Europe. The studies were supported by a grant from the Polish National Centre for Research (NCN) grant No 2011/01/B/ST10/06972
“Assessment of climate change impacts on population health in various regions of Poland and predictions to 2100”.
7C.6
Increase in incidences of emergency conveyance related to heat stroke in 2006-2013 in Saitama, Japan – local climate change and aging of society
Thermal Environment and Human Health II
Takeshi Fujino, Saitama University, Saitama, Saitama, Japan; S. Koda and C. Takahashi Before the 1990's, heat stroke was not recognized as a social issue in Japan. It mostly occurred during exercise outdoors. However, the number of incidences of emergency conveyance and death due to heat stroke in the last 10 years was increased to six times that in the previous 30 years. A trend of global warming in Saitama, a part of the Tokyo metropolitan area, has become significant in the past 30 years. Also, with the local inland climate, the daily maximum temperature in Saitama is higher than that in Central Tokyo. Since 1994, seasonal heat waves have occurred increasingly. The first significant disaster related to heat stroke was recorded in 2007. On August 16th, a maximum temperature of 40.9 oC, a new Japanese record at that time, was recorded in Kumagaya City in northern Saitama. Six hundred eighty-one calls for emergency conveyances were received and 20 people died. The second significant event occurred in the summer of 2010. The mean summer temperature was the highest in the past 113 years in Japan, exceeding the past record set in 1994.
Three thousand six hundred seventy-nine calls for emergency conveyances were received (a total of 53,843 in Japan) and one hundred twenty-four people died (a total of 1,718 in Japan). Since 2011, more than 3,000 people have required emergency conveyance every summer. Using the 2006-2012 recorded data, a relationship between the maximum daily temperature and incidence rate of heat stroke was shown by a logistic regression curve. However, large variations in the number of incidences of emergency conveyance are seen at around the maximum temperature of 35 oC. To perform a higher precision evaluation of heat stroke risk, the 3-day-accumulated Apparent Temperature defined by Steadman in 1984 was calculated, and the number of calls for emergency conveyance was found to be high when the 3-day-accumulated Apparent Temperature was more than 1,900 oC. During 2006-2012, the number of cases of heat stroke indoors increased, and more than 70 % of those afflicted were elderly persons. This finding reflects the rapid advance of aging as a social background. Factors for heat stroke increase are 1) rapid increase to high temperature in the daytime, and 2) consecutive high-temperature days of more than 35 oC. As another aspect of the social background, the increasing in the number of single-elderly-person households in the past 30 years may promote the aggravation of heat stroke.
7D.1
Overview of a new scenario framework for climate change research Climate Change: Research and Adaptation Assessment Kristie L. Ebi, ClimAdapt, LLC, Los Altos, CA
The scientific community is developing new integrated global, regional, and sectoral scenarios to facilitate interdisciplinary research and assessment to explore the range of possible future climates and related physical changes; the risks these could pose to human and natural systems, particularly how these changes could interact with social, economic, and environmental development pathways;
the degree to which mitigation and adaptation policies can avoid and reduce the risks; the costs and benefits of various policy mixes; residual impacts under alternative pathways; and the relationship with sustainable development.