Long-Term Changes in Summer Extreme Wet Bulb Globe Temperature over China

The wet bulb globe temperature(WBGT)has important implication for human health.Previous studies widely use the monthly data but rarely investigate the extreme WBGT because of data limitation.In this study,we use 6-h station data to analyze the changes in the WBGT and three categories(intensity,absolute threshold,and frequency indices)of extreme WBGT indices in summers of 1961-2017.It is found that the spatial distributions of long-term trends in summer mean WBGT are consistent with those in the mean temperature.The trend value of WBGT is smaller than the mean temperature,because of the decrease of relative humidity.For the extreme indices,the intensity and frequency of WBGT and fixed threshold indices have changed.The increase of intensity indices and warm WBGT days and nights,and decrease of cold WBGT days and nights have been observed in most China,especially over northwestern China.The number of days with daily maximum WBGT exceeding 31.4℃(WXge31)and minimum WBGT exceeding 27.9℃(WNge27)over southeastern China have increased since 1961.The spread of probability distributions of WXge31,WNge27,and warm WBGT days and nights is becoming wider,reflecting increased variability of extreme indices.In addition,urbanization effects on the WBGT are investigated.The impacts of urbanization on most of extreme WBGT indices are not detected,except for absolute thresholds indices.This may be due to the decrease of relative humidity in urban stations,which are almost two times larger than that in rural stations.However,we also note that the homogenization issue of humidity data may affect the conclusions.

Substantial increase of heat-induced labor and economic loss in China under rapid economic and environmental temperature growth

Exposure to heat stress causes diminished work performance and leads to economic loss.In the last two decades,China has experienced both rapid economic development and environmental warming;however,the spatiotemporal variations of association between environmental heat and labor loss have been rarely investigated behind this double impact.Here,we evaluated the variation in China's heat-induced labor productivity loss and related economic cost from 2001 to 2019 and investigated the effect of economic development and regional warming.We found that decline in labor productivity because of heat stress increased significantly(p<0.05 for heavy-intensity work),and the corresponding economic loss also exhibited a drastic increase by 6-to 9-fold.The relative economic loss showed a slight but nonsignificant increase with an average value of 0.54%of the annual total earnings.At the sub-regional and sectoral level,adverse effects were more prominent in the southeast region,and the secondary industry sectors,such as construction and manufacturing,contributed to larger proportions of economic losses.The transformation of industrial structure made economic sectors more vulnerable to heat exposure,and increasingly preventive effects of air-conditioning use were noted on economic damage due to heat-induced productivity decline(36.0%relative economic benefits in 2019 compared to 9.7%in 2001).Our findings could provide a deep insight into heat burden on occupational health and heat adaptation strategies regionally under climate change,especially in developing areas with higher temperature and humidity environment.

Exertional heat illness risk factors and physiological responses of youth football players

Objective:To determine which intrinsic and extrinsic exertional heat illness(EHI)risk factors exist in youth American football players and observe perceptual and physiological responses of players during events(games and practices).Methods:Cross-sectional cohort study observing 63 youth football players,varying in position.Independent variables were league(weightrestricted(WR,n=27)and age-restricted(AR,n=36))and event type.Dependent variables were anthropometrics,work-to-rest ratio,and wet bulb globe temperature.Descriptive variables included preparticipation examination and uniform configuration.A subset of 16 players participated in physiological variables(heart rate and gastrointestinal temperature).Data collection occurred on 7 AR and 8 WR nonconsecutive practices and the first 3 games of the season.Results:Mean values for anthropometric variables were higher(p<0.05)in the AR league than the WR league.Work time(χ^2(1,111)=4.232;p=0.039)and rest time(χ^2(1,111)=43.41;p<0.001)were significantly greater for games,but ratios were significantly higher for practices(χ^2(1,111)=40.62;p<0.001).The majority of events(77%)observed were in black and red flag wet bulb globe temperature risk categories.A total of 57%of the players had a preparticipation examination,and up to 82%of events observed were in full uniforms.Individual gastrointestinal temperature and heart rate responses ranged widely and no players reached critical thresholds.Conclusion:Extrinsic(disproportionate work ratios,environmental conditions)and intrinsic(higher body mass index)EHI risk factors exist in youth football.Certain risk factors may be influenced by event and league type.National youth football organizations need to create thorough guidelines that address EHI risk factors for local leagues to adopt.