Heat Waves and Their Impacts on Human

Health in Urban Areas of Central Oklahoma

Kyle Thiem, Jessica Voveris, & Emma Fagan

University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology

Heather BasaraAssistant Professor, University of Oklahoma

Department of Geography

Jeffrey BasaraAssociate Professor, University of Oklahoma

School of Meteorology

Background Heat waves are common

occurrences Especially dangerous within urban

environments Higher air pollutant concentrations UHI phenomenon

Chicago (1995), Europe (2003), Russia (2010)

Basara et al. 2008

Societal Impacts Increased heat related and pollution

related illnesses during extreme heat events

Increased urbanization in the future Heat waves are projected to increase in

frequency, longevity, and intensity Better mitigation techniques are needed

European Heat Wave of 2003

Research Goals Expand the current knowledge of the

relationships between heat waves, urban environments, and human health

Determine which populations are most at risk during extreme heat events within Oklahoma City at a neighborhood scale

What We’ve Done Determined our event

July 30 – August 6, 2008

Sorted through and put all of the data from the Micronet and Census Tracts into GIS for further analysis

3 types of data: Demographic, Pollutant, Temperature

Basara et al. 2011

Demographic Decided to use Clusters (defined by

statistical similarities of demographic data) to group the Census Tracts (Hall and Basara)

Hall and Basara

Pollutant Studies have shown that as stagnant air over a

city due to a heat wave can cause an increse in the amounts of pollutants in the air.

Result: Length of heat wave in this event was too short to see an increase in Ozone or PM data

Temperature Higher temperatures in urban areas apparent

(approx. 1-2 C on average), especially at night.

1ºC increase in temperature above a comfortability threshold correlates to a 1-3% increase in mortality.

What’s Left To Do Determine climatological average

maximum and minimum temperatures to establish comfortability thresholds

Assign vulnerability levels to each Census Tract based on maximum and minimum temperature, population density, and demographic factors.

Combine risk assessment of all factors in GIS to determine which neighborhoods are considered most at risk in final analysis.

Summary Heat waves are common

occurrences, and especially dangerous in urban environments.

Our goal is to determine which populations are most at risk during extreme heat events within Oklahoma City at a neighborhood scale

Determined demographics and temperature exposure to be main risks.

Currently working on last step: defining the vulnerability levels of each census tract.

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