Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals
Heatwaves (HWs) are one of the “natural” hazards with the greatest impact worldwide in terms of mortality and economic losses, and their effects may be exacerbated in large urban areas. For these reasons, more detailed analyses of urban HW trends represent a priority that cannot be neglected. In thi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/7/115 |
| _version_ | 1798043321125306368 |
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| author | Marco Morabito Alfonso Crisci Alessandro Messeri Gianni Messeri Giulio Betti Simone Orlandini Antonio Raschi Giampiero Maracchi |
| author_facet | Marco Morabito Alfonso Crisci Alessandro Messeri Gianni Messeri Giulio Betti Simone Orlandini Antonio Raschi Giampiero Maracchi |
| author_sort | Marco Morabito |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Heatwaves (HWs) are one of the “natural” hazards with the greatest impact worldwide in terms of mortality and economic losses, and their effects may be exacerbated in large urban areas. For these reasons, more detailed analyses of urban HW trends represent a priority that cannot be neglected. In this study, HW trends were investigated during the warmest period of the year (May–September) by using a slightly improved version of the EuroHEAT HW definition applied on long meteorological time-series (36-year period, 1980–2015) collected by weather stations located in the capitals of the 28 European Union member countries. Comparisons between two 18-year sub-periods (1980–1997 vs. 1998–2015) were carried out and a city-specific HW hazard index (HWHI), accounting for the main HW characteristics, was proposed. Most of the capitals revealed significant positive trends of the majority of HW hazard characteristics and substantial HWHI increases were observed during the sub-period 1998–2015, especially in the central-eastern and southeastern cities. Conversely, minor HWHI increases were observed in most of the northern capitals and opposite situations were even observed in several northern and especially southwestern cities. The results of this study represent a support for planning urban HW-related mitigation and adaptation strategies with the priority given to the southeastern cities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:47:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d74ab0b8970c4157b7009c21d894a0b3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:47:32Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-d74ab0b8970c4157b7009c21d894a0b32022-12-22T03:58:42ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332017-06-018711510.3390/atmos8070115atmos8070115Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union CapitalsMarco Morabito0Alfonso Crisci1Alessandro Messeri2Gianni Messeri3Giulio Betti4Simone Orlandini5Antonio Raschi6Giampiero Maracchi7Institute of Biometeorology, National Research Council, 50145 Florence, ItalyInstitute of Biometeorology, National Research Council, 50145 Florence, ItalyCentre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, ItalyInstitute of Biometeorology, National Research Council, 50145 Florence, ItalyConsorzio LaMMA—Laboratory of Environmental Modelling and Monitoring for a Sustainable Development, 50019 Firenze, ItalyCentre of Bioclimatology, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, ItalyInstitute of Biometeorology, National Research Council, 50145 Florence, ItalyAccademia dei Georgofili, 50122 Florence, ItalyHeatwaves (HWs) are one of the “natural” hazards with the greatest impact worldwide in terms of mortality and economic losses, and their effects may be exacerbated in large urban areas. For these reasons, more detailed analyses of urban HW trends represent a priority that cannot be neglected. In this study, HW trends were investigated during the warmest period of the year (May–September) by using a slightly improved version of the EuroHEAT HW definition applied on long meteorological time-series (36-year period, 1980–2015) collected by weather stations located in the capitals of the 28 European Union member countries. Comparisons between two 18-year sub-periods (1980–1997 vs. 1998–2015) were carried out and a city-specific HW hazard index (HWHI), accounting for the main HW characteristics, was proposed. Most of the capitals revealed significant positive trends of the majority of HW hazard characteristics and substantial HWHI increases were observed during the sub-period 1998–2015, especially in the central-eastern and southeastern cities. Conversely, minor HWHI increases were observed in most of the northern capitals and opposite situations were even observed in several northern and especially southwestern cities. The results of this study represent a support for planning urban HW-related mitigation and adaptation strategies with the priority given to the southeastern cities.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/7/115heatwave trendnumber of heatwaveslong heatwaveshigh-intensity heatwavestimingurban areasapparent temperatureGSOD |
| spellingShingle | Marco Morabito Alfonso Crisci Alessandro Messeri Gianni Messeri Giulio Betti Simone Orlandini Antonio Raschi Giampiero Maracchi Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals Atmosphere heatwave trend number of heatwaves long heatwaves high-intensity heatwaves timing urban areas apparent temperature GSOD |
| title | Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals |
| title_full | Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals |
| title_fullStr | Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals |
| title_short | Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals |
| title_sort | increasing heatwave hazards in the southeastern european union capitals |
| topic | heatwave trend number of heatwaves long heatwaves high-intensity heatwaves timing urban areas apparent temperature GSOD |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/8/7/115 |
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