Berichte des Meteorologischen Instituts

der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Nr. 20

Andreas Matzarakis, Helmut Mayer

and Frank-M. Chmielewski (Eds.)

Proceedings of the

7th Conference on Biometeorology

Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany

12-14 April 2010

Freiburg, April 2010

2

ISSN 1435-618X

Copyright reserved, particularly rights of reproduction, distribution and transla-tion

Self-publishing company of the Meteorological Institute, Albert-Ludwigs-Univer-sity of Freiburg, Germany

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Editor: Prof. Dr. Helmut Mayer

Meteorological Institute, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Frei-burg

Werthmannstr. 10, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany

Tel.: +49/761/203-3590; Fax: +49/761/203-3586

e-mail: meteo@meteo.uni-freiburg.de

Documentation: Ber. Meteor. Inst. Univ. Freiburg Nr. 20, 2010, 584 pp.

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Editorial

Biometeorology represents a discipline with long tradition and interdisciplinary back-ground. Therefore, it is very popular. The interactions between the atmosphere and the living environment are not only related to atmospheric exchange but also visible and sensitive from daily life to global warming issues. We have to keep in mind that climate change effects, finally, will at most influence and affect the living environment. Biome-teorology can also be seen as part of climate impact in the global warming discussion.

The 7th Conference on Biometeorology (BioMet-7) is hosted from 12-14 April 2010 at the Meteorological Institute, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany, in col-laboration with the Expert Committee on Biometeorology of the German Meteorologi-cal Society, the Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany, the Society for the Promotion of Medicine-Meteorological Research in Germany, the International Society of Biome-teorology, the German Weather Service and the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics in Vienna, Austria. It will provide an excellent opportunity to present and discuss new developments, approaches and methodologies from the whole spectrum of biometeorology.

The oral and poster presentations at the auditorium of the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg were subdivided into the fields: agricultural meteorology, animal meteorology, climate change, human-biometeorology, phenology, tourism climatology and urban bioclimate. The organisers of the Conference would like to express their thanks to the approximately 100 participants from over 30 countries. They are indebted to the authors of oral and poster presentations, the session chairs as well as the scientific and local organising committee.

In its present form, the proceedings volume contains extended abstracts of more than 80% of the presentations. The authors have the sole responsibility for the contents of their extended abstracts.

Andreas Matzarakis, Helmut Mayer and Frank-M. Chmielewski (Eds.)

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ContentsPreface 3

Agricultural Meteorology

F. J. Löpmeier, C. Frühauf: Die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Landwirtschaft- die Aktivitäten des Deutschen Wetterdienstes im Rahmen des Projektes ZWEK

11

R. Weßnigk, J. Fildebrandt: Agrarmeteorologische Beratung des Deutschen Wetterdienstes unter spezieller Berücksichtigung von Sonderberatungen

16

K.-P. Wittich, R. Becker: Klimatologische und phänologische Dürre-Indikatoren in der Agrarmeteorologie des DWD

20

H. Braden: Sensitivität des agrarmeteorologischen Modells AMBETI/BEKLIMA gegenüber Änderungen der meteorologischen Randbedingungen

26

T. Gerersdorfer, J. Eitzinger, E. Bahrs, C. Brandenburg: Der Beitrag von Landschaftsstrukturen (z.B. Windschutzhecken) zur Ertragssituation im Ackerbau in Ostösterreich

32

R. Kumar, K. Ramesh, S. Tehria, B. Singh, R. Prasad: Crop weather interaction studies in a natural sweetener plant (Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.) Bertoni) in Indian Western Himalaya

38

E. Grigorieva, A. Matzarakis: Growing degree days at the Russian Far East

44

F.-M. Chmielewski, K. Blümel, Y. Henniges: Climate change and late frost damages to Apple Trees in Germany

50

Ákos Németh: Using digital elevation models in agroclimatology: determination of potential frost-risk territories

57

C. Frühauf, B. Berkelmann-Löhnertz, B. J. Loskill, A. Schaldach, H. Braden, K.-U. Gollmer, M. Forster, K.-P. Wittich: Erweiterung und Optimierung der Geisenheimer Peronospora-Prognose und Umsetzung in die Rebschutz-Praxis im Rheingau

63

K.-P. Wittich, M. Kraft: Erfassung der Vegetationsentwicklung landwirtschaftlicher Bestände mit agrarmeteo-rologischen Strahlungssensoren

69

E. Rahmani, A. Hense, J. Keller, P. Friederichs:The effect of climate change on agro climate zoning of wheat in Iran Authors

75

H. Braden: "Guttation", Bedeutung, Beobachtung, Modellierung

81

F.-M. Chmielewski, K. Blümel, A. Müller, Y. Henniges, R. W.S. Weber: Climate change and fruit growing in Germany

85

J. Junk , M. El Jarroudi, F. Pogoda, T. Dubos, K. Görgen, L. Hoffmann, M. Beyer: Forecasting epidemic outbreaks of wheat leaf blotch based on meteorological parameters

91

F. Xystrakis, A. Matzarakis: The importance of meteorological variables in the bias of Potential evapotranspiration estimates in Crete, southern Greece

96

Animal Meteorology

J. Gaughan, J. Lees: Development of a climate stress index for dairy cows housed outside

101

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A. Vitali, E. Lana, F. Guizzardi, M. Amadori, U. Bernabucci, A. Nardone, N. Lacetera: Seasonal pattern of mortality and relationships between mortality and temperature humidity index in heavy slaughter pigs

107

M. Fiedler, G. Hoffmann, K. von Bobrutzki, A. Matzarakis:Biometeorological investigations in dairy cowsheds

113

Climate Change

J. Nekovar, R. Bagar:Evaluation of global sunshine energy 1984-2008 over Czech climate station network

119

A. Grätz: Stadtplanung und Klimawandel - Eine Kooperation des DWD mit der Stadtentwick-lungsverwaltung von Berlin

125

B. Tinz, T. Deutschländer, B. Früh: Entwicklung der Wärmebelastung in Deutschland im 21. Jahrhundert

131

H.-G. Mücke: Climate change: New health risks in the air

137

P. Neumann, A. Matzarakis: Regional and local dimension of climate change: identification of the impact of climate variability and extreme events using the example of heat and drought in Baden-Württemberg

142

Forest Meteorology

C. Hertel, M. Leuchner: Variability of light quality and quantity in a mixed forest stand

148

T. Rötzer, H. Pretzsch: Stem water storage of Norway spruce and its possible influence on tree growth under drought stress - application of ct-scannings

153

T. Rötzer, Y. Liao, H. Pretzsch: Effects of climate change and adaptation strategies for Northwest European forest stands

159

S. Röhling, T. Rötzer, H. Pretzsch: Einfluss des Klimas auf die Kohlenstoffspeicherung von Moorwäldern

165

M. Fritz, U. Hera, T. Rötzer,: Klimatische Anbaueignung von Sorghumhirsen in Deutschland unter gegebenen und veränderten Klimabedingungen

172

Human Biometeorology

K. Gabriel: Comparison of methods for heat determination

178

G. Jendritzky, G. Havenith, P. Weihs, E. Batchvarova, R. de Dear:Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI

184

I. Thiele-Eich, S. Brienen, A. Kapala, G. Jendritzky, C. Simmer:Zukünftige thermische Komfortbedingungen in Deutschland

189

I. Gospodinov, A. Tzenkova-Bratoeva:Spatial and temporal variability of the rate of change of the winter thermal comfort conditions in Bulgaria

195

D. Idzikowska: Differences in bioclimatic conditions in four European cities: Budapest, Paris, Warsaw and Rome

201

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M. Nakayoshi, M. Kanda: Compact and wearable measurement system for Langrangian Human Biometeorology H. Staiger, A. Matzarakis: Estimating down- and up-welling thermal radiation for use in mean radiant temperature

213

J. Liukaityte, J. Savanevicius: Association of meteorological factors with emergency calls of ambulance in Vilnius, Lithuania

219

P. Canário, H. Andrade: Mortality spatial variations in a small scale during heat waves in Lisbon - who is at risk?

225

S. Muthers, A. Matzarakis. E. Koch: Relationship between climate and mortality in Vienna based on human-biometeorological data

229

P. T. Nastos, K. N. Giaouzaki, N. A. Kampanis, P. I. Agouridakis, A. Matzarakis: Environmental impacts on human health during a saharan episode at Crete island, Greece

235

U. Kaminski: Untersuchungen zum Einfluss des Klimawandels in Deutschland auf den Start der Pollensaison, die Saisonlänge und die Pollenkonzentration der wichtigsten allergenen Pollen anhand der Pollendaten der Referenzstationen des Polleninformationsdienstes PID

242

Y.-J. Choi, K.-J. Park, K. Rang Kim, H.-R. Lee, C. Yeon Yi, J.-W. Oh:Climate change and adaptation strategies for pollens in Korea

248

U. Kaminski, B. Alberternst, T. Gabrio, M. Böhme, S. Nawrath, H. Behrendt: Ambrosia Pollen-Konzentrationen in Baden-Württemberg

252

S. Kannabei, T. Dümmel: Ambrosia in Berlin: pollen emission, spread and control

258

K. Burkart, W. Endlicher: The effect of temperature and thermal atmospheric conditions on mortality in Bangaldesh

261

S. Muthers, A. Matzarakis, E. Koch: Changes in heat related mortality in Vienna based on regional climate models

267

J. Maroszek, T. Morita and K. Błazejczyk:

Melatonin secretion in various climate zone

273

K. Lindner: Clothing as an indicator of human thermal comfort

278

J. Augustin: Climate change and skin cancer - relation and effects

284

P. T. Nastos, K. Giaouzaki, N. A. Kampanis, P. Agouridakis, A. Matzarakis:

Acute coronary syndromes and biometeorological conditions at Crete island, Greece 290

P. Gebauer: The WBGT-Index – a heat index, used in international sporting events

296

A. Kunert: Modeling of UTCI index in various types of landscape

302

Phenology

P. Braun, M. Müller:Limits of phenological modelling in tree species

308

W. Janssen: Definition des Vegetationszeitraumes über Temperatursummen

312

S. Urhausen, S. Brienen, A. Kapala, C. Simmer:Zukünftige klimatische Bedingungen im Weinbau an der Obermosel

319

325

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K. Höbart, C. Czachs, C. Brandenburg, M. Pintar, E. Mursch-Radlgruber:Phänologie und Aktivitätsmuster von AmphibienE. Koch, S. Adler, W. Lipa, M. Ungersböck, S. Zach-HermannThe pan European phenological database PEP725

331

Tourism Climatology

K. Zaninovic, L. Srnec, M. Patarcic, M. Percec Tadic, J. Mika, A. Nemeth:Influence of climate change on the summer tourism potential in the Pannonian basin

336

H. Yilmaz, S. Yilmaz, S. Toy, N. Demircioglu Yildiz:Evaluation of climatic characteristics for tourism and recreation in a specific area, Tortum, in Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey

342

R. Machete, C. Ferreira, E. Brito-Henriques, H. Andrade, J. Couto:Anticipating the impacts of climate change on tourism in Lisbon Metropolitan Area – Assessing tourist perceptions

346

A. Lopes, S. Lopes, A. Matzarakis, M. J. Alcoforado:Summer sea breeze influence on human comfort in Funchal (Madeira Island). Application to urban climate and tourism planning

352

R. Steiger: The impact of record warm winter seasons on ski touristic demand

358

C. R. de Freitas, E. A. Grigorieva: Prediction of acclimatization thermal loading for individuals travelling between climatic extremes

364

S. Yilmaz, S. Toy, H. Yilmaz: Determination of the winter human thermal comfort distributions in a ski-centre

370

C. R. de Freitas, A. Matzarakis: Gauging the sensitivity of tourism climate to change by way of an integrated thermal bioclimatic assessment scheme

374

C. Endler, A. Matzarakis: Assessment of climate for tourism purposes in Germany

380

E. A. Grigorieva , A. Matzarakis: Physiologically equivalent temperature in extreme climate regions in the Russian Far East

386

A. Matzarakis, T. Schneevoigt, O. Matuschek, C. Endler:Transfer of climate information for tourism and recreation – the CTIS software

392

C. Ketterer, A. Matzarakis: The tourism climate of Engadin, Switzerland

398

P. Schmidt, R. Steiger, A. Matzarakis:Artificial snow making in the Southern Black Forest

404

R. Steiger: Climate change impact assessment in winter tourism

410

E. Didaskalou, P. Nastos, P. Tsartas:The climate as an important factor in a multicriteria decision analysis for the development planning of wellness tourism

416

Urban Bioclimate

S. Henninger: Modifikationen des lufthygienischen Wirkungskomplexes in der ruandischen Stadt Kigali

422

F. Meier, D. Scherer, J. Richters: Spatial and temporal variability of surface temperature of tree crowns in an urban environment

428

433

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B.G. Heusinkveld, L.W.A. van Hove, C.M.J. Jacobs, G.J. Steeneveld, J.A. Elbers, E.J. Moors, A.A.M. Holtslag: Greening of Dutch urban canyons for heat stress reductionS. Yilmaz (Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Agriculture, Ataturk University, Turkey), Y. Bulut, S. Toy, I. Sezen: Evaluation of the relationship between air pollution and climatic elements in urban areas in the sample of Erzurum city in the respect of landscape architecture

439

A. Katzschner: Calibration of thermal comfort in different climates for urban planning concerns

443

Y. Y. Yan, H. Y. Cheng: Summer human thermal comfort in urban open spaces in Hong Kong

449

C. Y. Yi, Y.-J. Choi, J.-H. Eum, G. H. Kim, K. R. Kim, D. Scherer, U. Fehrenbach: Development of climate analysis software for urban and environmental planning of Seoul

455

L. Shashua-Bar , S. Cohen, O. Potchter, Y. Yaakov, J. Tanny, P. Bar-Kutiel: The use of street trees for heat stress mitigation in hot and arid regions. Case study: Beer Sheva, Israel

461

O. Potchter, J. Holst, L. Shashua-Bar, S. Cohen, Y. Yaakov , J. Tanny, P. Bar-Kutiel, H. Mayer: Comparative study of trees impact on human thermal comfort in urban streets under hot-arid and temperate climates

467

Á. Gulyás, A. Matzarakis, J. Unger: Comparison of the urban-rural thermal comfort sensation in a city with warm continental climate

473

M. Bąkowska: Influence of air circulation and geographical factors on daily rhythm of biothermal conditions

479

H. Andrade , M. J. Alcoforado, P. Canário:Urban thermal patterns, environmental conditions associated and synoptic factors in Lisbon

485

C. Schneider, M. F. Brunk, W. Dott, H. Hofmeister, C. Pfaffenbach, C. Roll, K. Selle, K. Wachten, M. Buttstädt, K. Eßer, J. Hahmann , L. Hülsmeier, G. Ketzler, M. Klemme, A. Kröpelin, H. Merbitz, S. Michael, T. Sachsen, A. Siuda: “CITY 2020+” – assessing climate and demographic change impacts for the City of Aachen

491

T.-P. Lin, A. Matzarakis, R.-L. Hwang, Ying-Che Huang:Effect of pavements albedo on long-term outdoor thermal comfort

497

N. Kantor, A. Gulyas:Area usage and thermaal sensation vs. thermal comfort conditions- outdoor thermal comfort project in Szeged, Hungary

504

H. Lee, J. Holst, H. Mayer: Assessment of air quality indices in Seoul region by land use type

510

C. Kurbjuhn, V. Goldberg, A. Westbeld, Ch. Bernhofer:Impact of vegetation areas on the microclimate in the city of Dresden, Germany

516

J. Herrmann, A. Matzarakis: Influence of mean radiant temperature on thermal comfort of humans in idealized urban environments

522

E. Ng, A. Xipo, L. Katzschner: Urban Wind and Heat Environment in Hong Kong

528

290

Acute coronary syndromes and biometeorological conditions at Crete Island, Greece

P. T. Nastos1,2*, K. N. Giaouzaki3, N. A. Kampanis2, P. I. Agouridakis4 and A.

Matzarakis5

1Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvi-ronment, University of Athens, Greece 2Institute of Applied & Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas, Greece 3Department of Cardiology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece 4Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece 5Meteorological Institute, University of Freiburg, Germany

Abstract The relationship between the biometeorological conditions with the non fatal Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS), is examined in the Ierapetra area, with mild climate, in the Southeastern Crete Island, Greece, during the period 2004-2007. Daily ACS counts were acquired from the General Hospital of Ierapetra and corresponding meteorological parameters, such as maximum and minimum air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and cloudiness, from the meteoro-logical station of Ierapetra (Hellenic National Meteorological Service). Besides, the daily values of the thermal index Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) were evaluated, in order to interpret the grade of the physiological stress. The find out the possible association between ACS and the meteorological variables we applied on one hand the Pearson’s χ2 test, the most widely used method of independence control of groups in lines and columns in a table of frequencies. The use of contingency tables instead of Pearson correlation is considered more accurate, because the medical data present large diver-gence from a Gaussian (regular) distribution. On the other hand, the application of the General-ized Linear Models (GLM) with Poisson distribution resulted in quantitative relationships be-tween the examined parameters. The ACS syndromes present a multiple variation within the year, with the primary maximum in August and the secondary in May, while relative high ACS frequencies exist in early winter time. The impacts of the weather variability on ACS are not statistically significant (C.L. 95%) and indicate that mild climates without temperature extremes within the year do not appear a clear evidence of influence on ACS. 1. Introduction There is strong evidence, supported by a consensus of world’s leading scientists that the earth’s climate is changing, causing a harmful impact on human health. It is already recognized that extreme weather events place an extra burden on public health systems. Hippocrates (430 BC) was the first to establish in his treatises that bioclimatic condi-tions play an important role in the pathogenesis of disease. The last 30 years several studies indicated that climatic indices such as daily temperature (average, minimum, maximum), humidity, wind speed and barometric pressure increase mortality and mor-bidity rates of ischemic heart disease, especially in the older people (Glantz, 1993; Colwell, 1998; Fish et al., 1985; Rooney et al., 1998). Even more, in January 1985 a smog episode, that took place in parts of West Germany caused many deaths, the major-ity of them were due to cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary diseases (Wichmann et al., 1989). In a more recent work (Grigoropoulos et al., 2009), it is showed that the ultra

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fine particulate matter with diameter less than 1 μm (PM1) is in close relation with sinus arrhythmias registered in the emergency units of the hospitals in Athens. The exploitation of the effects of the bioclimatic conditions variability and human health is of principal interest and one of the current trends of the related sciences. This acquires more importance, as the climate change influence enforce extreme weather phenomena and increases their frequency of occurrence, driving all the more to a per-manent degradation of the bioclimatic conditions. The objective of this study is a preliminary approach to identify if there is a significant relationship between intra annual weather variability and acute coronary syndromes in the Ierapetra area, in South Eastern part of Crete Island, Greece.

2. Data and Analysis In this study, the daily counts of admissions for non fatal Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) - either Acute Myocardial Infraction (AMI) or Unstable Angina (UA) - were obtained from the cardiology emergency department of the General Hospital of Ierape-tra, during the period 2004-2007. Acute myocardial infraction (STEMI: ST segment elevation myocardial infarction or NSTEMI: non-ST segment elevation myocardial in-farction) is the clinical syndrome that results from an injury to myocardial tissue due to prolonged ischemia. The corresponding meteorological parameters, such as maximum and minimum air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and cloudiness, were pro-vided from the meteorological station of Ierapetra (Hellenic National Meteorological Service).The geographical position of Ierapetra, Crete Island, appears in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Crete Island, Greece. Ierapetra city is indicated by a rectangular frame

The relationship between ACS/STEMI and the aforementioned meteorological parame-ters was calculated by the application of: a) Pearson χ2 test, the most widely used me-thod of independence control of groups in lines and columns in a table of frequencies and b) Generalized Linear Models with Poisson distribution (McGullagh and Nelder, 1997), a method of analysis, which has been performed satisfactorily in previous studies (Nastos and Matzarakis, 2006; Nastos et al., 2008). The values of each meteorological parameter and ACS/STEMI, were grouped in four quartiles, so that the first quartile contain the lowest 25% and the fourth quartile the highest 25% of the values. In the

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process, the number of days for the quartiles of ACS/STEMI was calculated for each quartile of the parameters and then a contingency table was constructed for every para-meter. Besides, the bioclimatic conditions expressed by the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), based on the energy balance models of the human body, are ana-lyzed (Matzarakis et al., 1999).

3. Results and Discussion Ierapetra is Europe's southernmost town, characterized by very mild climate and mean air temperature rarely drops below 12oC in the winter. The temperate climate of Ierapetra is of typical Mediterranean type, defined by cold and rain period (October-March) and warm and dry period (April–September). The mean maximum air tempera-ture is 31.8 oC in July and August and the mean minimum air temperature is 8.7 oC, in February. The mean annual rainfall is 494 mm and is rare during the summer months. The mean annual number of sunshine hours is 3066 while the prevailing wind direction is of the North sector and the mean wind speed ranges from 7.1 kts in May to 12.4 kts in July.

Fig. 2: Bioclimatic diagram with respect to PET classes per ten days interval, for Ierape-tra, Crete Island, Greece, during the period 1956-2001

The mild climatic conditions at Ierapetra are depicted in the more descriptive biocli-matic diagram concerning PET classes per ten days interval, during the period 1956-2001 (Fig. 2). The PET values, estimated from RayMan model (Matzarakis et al., 2007), give evidence of strong heat stress for approximately 20% -30% of the days within the period from July to August. The temperate climatic regime of Ierapetra, as described before, brings difficulties in the evaluation of the impact of heat in human health, which

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particularly appear in regions with mild climate, without temperature extremes (Gnecchi Ruscone et al., 1985; Ku et al., 1998).

Fig. 3: Stacked graphs with respect to male, female and total counts for ACS, UA, AMI, STEMI, NSTEMI and Deaths, for different classes of age, in Ierapetra area, Crete Island, for the period 2004-2007

As far as the cardiovascular diseases depend on sex and age, Fig. 3 depicts the fre-quency of each examined cardiovascular syndrome per sex and age classes. It is crystal clear that males appear higher frequency than females for all the syndromes. Regarding only deaths, females predominate within the age class greater than 80 yrs. Moreover, females with age greater than 70 yrs seem to be a little more vulnerable than males in NSTEMI syndromes. These findings are in agreement with the results of an analysis concerning the projected prevalence of the cardiovascular syndromes in the Americans with age greater than 20 years old (American Heart Association, 2003).

The frequencies of the ACS or STEMI admissions within the quartiles of the examined meteorological parameters (contingency tables) were tested by the application of the Pearson χ2 test (not shown). The results revealed that the null hypothesis is fulfilled;

ACS

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namely the meteorological parameters examined are not associated with the emergence of the cardiovascular syndromes. Notwithstanding the results are not statistically sig-nificant (C.L. 95%), ACS and particularly STEMI syndromes seem to be influenced by high maximum and minimum air temperature (the highest 25% quartile).

Table 1: Results of the application of Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with Poisson

distribution, (dependent variable is the ACS/STEMI admissions, while inde-pendent covariates are the aforementioned meteorological parameters)

ACS STEMI

variable b coefficient ± standard error

significance level p

variable b coefficient ± standard error

significance level p

Tmax (οC) 0.0180±0.0129 0.163061 Tmax (

οC) 0.0217±0.0147 0.140714

Tmin (οC) 0.0192±0.0142 0.179036 Tmin (

οC) 0.0209±0.0162 0.196644

RH (%) -0.0041±0.0093 0.657128 RH (%) -0.0078±0.0107 0.467654

WS (m/s)

-0.0019±0.0301 0.950132 WS (m/s) -0.0155±0.0348 0.656980

Because the medical data do not follow normal but Poisson distribution, the application of Generalized Linear Models with Poisson distribution is considered the most appro-priate method of checking the impact of weather on cardiovascular syndromes. The re-sults of this analysis are presented in Table 1, where an insignificant correlation be-tween ACS/STEMI and meteorological variables exist (C.L. 95%). The insignificance of the results could be attributed to several factors. The predominant factor is the tem-perate climate without extremes, while the employment of the population in the green-houses seems to be beneficial. Another reason of local interest that might be mentioned is the regulated climatic conditions inside the many greenhouses in the region, which protect the health of the people working in there against the cold weather conditions, which is responsible for the acute coronary syndromes exacerbation.

4. Conclusions

In this study, the impact of weather variability on non fatal Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS), obtained from the cardiology emergency department of the General Hospital of Ierapetra, Crete Island, Greece, during the period 2004-2007, was examined. The results from the performed analysis showed that there was not any statistically significant rela-tionship (C.L. 95%) between ACS and weather parameters. This could be attributed to the temperate climate of Ierapetra, supporting the assumption that mild climates without temperature extremes have minor impacts on ACS incidence. Further research is needed in order to confirm our findings and understand better the involved pathophysiological mechanisms.

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Corresponding Author’s address: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Panagiotis Nastos (nastos@geol.uoa.gr) Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvi-ronment, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis GR 157 84, Athens, Greece