Eddy Moors - heat stress equity Boston visit 22 25 june 2016

Heat stress and equity

Boston - Netherlands June 23, 2016

Eddy Moors, Cor Jacobs, Judith Klostermann, Tanya Singh Professor Water and Climate, VU University Amsterdam Head Climate Change and Adaptive Land and Water Management, Alterra-Wageningen UR

Equity and climate adaptation

IPCC 2014*:

! Households with low socioeconomic status are most vulnerable to climate hazards

! Cities often feature zones of concentrated disadvantage ●  Lack of institutional capacities for

health care, education, employment

●  Poor quality housing

●  Social isolation

2 *: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg2/WGIIAR5-Chap11_FINAL.pdf

Thermal comfort: more than just temperature

3

" Temperature

" Humidity

" Windspeed

" Radiation

Environmental factors: plus :

" Acclimatization, adaptation

" Physiological factors (activity, condition, age,…)

" Psychological factors (I like green, blue… )

" Socio-cultural factors (e.g., behaviour)

Photograph: The Guardian

Thermal comfort is a “human scale” issue (Example: local effects of shading in Arnhem, NL)

Shade: Tair 28.9°C, PET 27°C Sun: Tair 29.4°C, PET 43°C

Heat in Bergpolder-Zuid (Climate Proof Cities: Rotterdam, the Netherlands)

! Considered disadvantaged and in need of socio-economic and physical improvement

! Public outdoor spaces perceived as unpleasant and uncomfortable

! Old, densely populated, vulnerable to heat

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Heat in Bergpolder Zuid (Climate Proof Cities: Rotterdam, the Netherlands)

! Vulnerability assessment ●  Heat ●  Social index ●  Energy label ●  Elderly

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! Sketch workshop ●  Interactive ●  Virtually all stakeholders

represented, including residents

Heat in poor neighbourhoods in South Asia

! Aimed at thermal comfort (not just the ‘Heat Island’)

! Find affordable alternatives to air conditioning

! Bottom-up: involve people ●  Understand living conditions

●  Heat perception

●  Indoor measurements

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Understand living conditions

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From neighbourhood... (Delhi, 18 May 2016, evening transect)

Posh R1 SR R2 R3 R4

Temperature (ºC) or Heat Index

º

C o

r In

dex

valu

e

42.5

40.0

37.5

35.0

32.5

HI Category 32-40 Extreme caution

41-54 Danger

Delhi:  

Mean  diurnal  varia,on  of  the  indoor  temperature  in  41  houses,  15-­‐17  April    2016    

Indoor temperature

0 5 10 15 20

Time of day

Tem

pera

ture

(°C

)

2

5 3

0 3

5 4

0 4

5

15-16 April 2016

...to dwelling

More information

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See also: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/