We then use statistical methods to quantify the impacts of extreme heat on a range of clinical outcomes in communities around the country. Wellenius: My team links detailed data on local weather to very large clinical datasets in order to study the impacts of heat and other climate hazards on people’s health and well-being. Q &A With Gregory Wellenius The Brink: How do you measure the impacts of heat on health?
Wellenius answered our questions about how heat exposure impacts physical and mental health, policies that can ensure equitable access to “cooling centers,” and tips for staying safe when temperatures reach dangerous highs. His team aims to ensure that our communities are as resilient, sustainable, and healthy as possible, studying how climate change mitigation and adaptation policies can benefit human health. Wellenius researches the human health impacts of a rapidly changing climate. To learn more, The Brink turned to Gregory Wellenius, Boston University professor of environmental health and director of BU’s Program on Climate and Health, to answer key questions. Heat doesn’t just impact the body it also impacts the mind. That’s worrisome, given the effect that heat has on the environment-increased forest fires and droughts-and on human health. These hot days are not isolated events, and they are only going to get more common: the first comprehensive worldwide assessment of heat waves, a report released last summer, uncovered that in nearly every part of the world, heat waves have been increasing in frequency and duration since the 1950s.
The Pacific Northwest shattered previously recorded temperature highs, with many regions trapped under what experts called a blistering “heat dome.” Here in Boston, while a heat emergency was in effect on June 28 and 29, the city tied its record highs-which had stood since 1933. The first major heat wave of the season scorched the western United States in recent weeks, with temperatures climbing to 114 degrees Fahrenheit in Las Vegas, and to a record-breaking 118 degrees in Phoenix. Summer is upon us and things are heating up, literally.
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