Assessment of daytime physiologic comfort, its perception and coping strategies among people in tertiary institutions in Nigeria

Abstract

Adequate understanding of the extreme thermal condition is as important as that of the averages for planners and policy makers. A significant knowledge gap exists in the physiologic comfort in many developing countries, particularly in the tropical region where thermal stress can pose significant threat to life because of inadequate infrastructure. This study examines the hourly variations in the physiologic comfort of Nigeria using the effective temperature, temperature–humidity and relative strain indices (ETI, THI and RSI, respectively). It also examines the perceptions of a selected sample of Nigerians, and their coping strategies to extreme conditions of cold and heat stress. The results showed that physiologic comfort in Nigeria exhibits variations across the different latitudinal locations; shows seasonal variations and is affected by local geography. Perception of the comfortable climate exhibits variation based on the latitudinal location of the respondents but the coping strategies vary with the wealth of individuals. The study showed that physiologic discomfort is severe in many parts of Nigeria (especially in the climate regions outside the montane climate) but the infrastructure to cope with the thermal stress is either poorly known or unaffordable for the majority of the people