%0 Journal Article
%T The Impact of ˇ°Unseasonablyˇ± Warm Spring Temperatures on Acute Myocardial Infarction Hospital Admissions in Melbourne, Australia: A City with a Temperate Climate
%A Margaret Loughnan
%A Nigel Tapper
%A Terence Loughnan
%J Journal of Environmental and Public Health
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/483785
%X The effects of extreme temperatures on human health have been well described. However, the adverse health effects of warm weather that occurs outside the summer period have had little attention. We used daily anomalous AMI morbidity and daily anomalous temperature to determine the impact of ˇ°unseasonableˇ± temperature on human health. The ˇ°unseasonablyˇ± warm weather was attributed to a slow moving high pressure system to the east of Melbourne. No morbidity displacement was noted during either of these periods suggesting that morbidity due to ˇ°unseasonableˇ± temperatures is avoidable. An increase in warmer weather during the cooler months of spring may result in increased morbidity, and an alert system based on summer thresholds may not be appropriate for early season heat health warnings. A straightforward alert system based on calculating anomalous temperature from daily weather forecasts may reduce the public health impact of ˇ°unseasonablyˇ± warm weather. 1. Introduction The relationship between heat waves and increased mortality and morbidity has been well described [1¨C4]. Similarly, an increase in population mortality and morbidity resulting from cold weather has also been well documented [5¨C10]. Thus, the adverse health effect of excessively hot weather during the warm season and of cold weather during the cool season is well known. However, what is unclear is the possible effect of anomalously warm temperatures that occur at other times of the year, that is, ˇ°unseasonablyˇ± warm weather during normally cool or mild seasons. Understanding the adverse health implications of unseasonably warm weather throughout the year may be important for predicting the impact of climate change. If milder winters in the future also feature ˇ°unseasonablyˇ± warm temperatures could this result in an adverse health response, possibly offsetting any decreased mortality/morbidity that might be expected from the warmer winters? Ebi et al. [11] evaluated the effects of temperature increases and decreases in hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases in California, US. Temperature changes were associated with a 6¨C13% change in CVD admissions [11]. Saez et al. [12] found that unusual periods of weather associated with increased temperature and humidity increased mortality independent of the V shaped temperature mortality relationship previously described for Barcelona, Spain [12]. This occurrence of an unusual period of increased temperature for at least 3 consecutive days resulted in an increase in total daily mortality of 2% on average and 2.6% in those aged 65 years and
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2014/483785/