24 research outputs found
Transportation and air quality perspectives and projections in a Mediterranean country, the case of Greece
This study provides a thorough review and analysis of the evolution of the Greek vehicle fleet over the last ~30 years, which is next used for the generation of high granularity fleet projections, the assessment of associated air pollution and the estimation of relevant environmental benefits by 2030. The integrated methodology developed takes also into account vehicle clustering and the Brown’s Double Simple Exponential Smoothing technique that, together with the adoption of COPERT-based emission factors, allow for the estimation of the anticipated emissions in 2030. Expected 2030 emissions levels suggest a reduction across all pollutants compared to 2018, ranging from 3.7% for PM10 to 54.5% for NMVOC (and 46% for CO, 14% for SO2, 28% for NOX and 21% for CO2). We find that Greece is on track with national goals concerning the reduction of air pollution from the transportation sector, which designates the positive contribution anticipated by EVs and new, “greener” vehicles, and sets new challenges for the further improvement of the sector beyond the 2030 outlook
Outdoor particulate matter and childhood asthma admissions in Athens, Greece: a time-series study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometers (PM<sub>10</sub>) that originates from anthropogenic activities and natural sources may settle in the bronchi and cause adverse effects possibly via oxidative stress in susceptible individuals, such as asthmatic children. This study aimed to investigate the effect of outdoor PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations on childhood asthma admissions (CAA) in Athens, Greece.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Daily counts of CAA from the three Children's Hospitals within the greater Athens' area were obtained from the hospital records during a four-year period (2001-2004, n = 3602 children). Mean daily PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations recorded by the air pollution-monitoring network of the greater Athens area were also collected. The relationship between CAA and PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations was investigated using the Generalized Linear Models with Poisson distribution and logistic analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a statistically significant (95% CL) relationship between CAA and mean daily PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations on the day of exposure (+3.8% for 10 μg/m<sup>3 </sup>increase in PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations), while a 1-day lag (+3.4% for 10 μg/m<sup>3 </sup>increase in PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations) and a 4-day lag (+4.3% for 10 μg/m<sup>3 </sup>increase in PM<sub>10 </sub>concentrations) were observed for older asthmatic children (5-14 year-old). High mean daily PM<sub>10 </sub>concentration (the highest 10%; >65.69 μg/m<sup>3</sup>) doubled the risk of asthma exacerbations even in younger asthmatic children (0-4 year-old).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results provide evidence of the adverse effect of PM<sub>10 </sub>on the rates of paediatric asthma exacerbations and hospital admissions. A four-day lag effect between PM<sub>10 </sub>peak exposure and asthma admissions was also observed in the older age group.</p
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
Abstract
Background
Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres.
Methods
This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries.
Results
In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia.
Conclusion
This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries
Present and Future Climate—Tourism Conditions in Milos Island, Greece
The objective of this study is to analyze the present and future climate-tourism conditions in Milos Island, Cyclades, Greece, by means of the assessment of the three climate components (physical, thermal, and aesthetic), which interprets the so-called climatic tourism potential. Milos Island is chosen as a representative island of the Cyclades complex in the Aegean Sea. Future climate change conditions are analyzed using the high-resolution simulations (grid size 0.11° × 0.11°) of the Regional Climate Model ALADIN 5.2 from Centre National de Recherche Meteorologiques, Meteo France (CNRM). The climate simulations concern the future periods 2021–2050 and 2071–2100 against the reference period 1961–1990, under two Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Based on regional climate simulations, the tourism potential can be described in a meaningful and simple way by applying the Climate-Tourism-Information-Scheme (CTIS), which depicts detailed climate information that could be used by tourists to foresee the thermal comfort, aesthetic, and physical conditions for planning their vacations. More specifically, the thermal climate component is interpreted by the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), which is one of the most popular physiological thermal indices based on the human energy balance. The findings of the analysis could be used by stakeholders and the tourism industry in decision-making regarding the destination of Milos for tourism planning and touristic infrastructure development
Human Bioclimatic Conditions, Trends, and Variability in the Athens University Campus, Greece
The objective of this work is the assessment of human thermal
bioclimatic conditions in the Athens University Campus (AUC), including
the Faculties and their respective Departments of the largest state
institution of higher learning in Greece, and among the largest
universities in Europe. The analysis of bioclimate was carried out,
using the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), which is based
on the energy balance model of the human body. The meteorological data
required for the calculation of PET concern hourly values of air
temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and total solar radiation,
for the time period 1999-2007. The recorded data sets were obtained from
the meteorological station of the Laboratory of Climatology and
Atmospheric Environment of the University of Athens. The results
revealed the hours of the day in which thermal comfort or stress
prevails, as well as the trends and variability of PET, for the studied
period. Finally, the intense heat waves occurred during summer 2007
along with extreme cold conditions during December 2003-February 2004
were analyzed in terms of PET classes and compared to the respective
average bioclimatic conditions of the study period
Advances in Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics
XXX, 1278 p. 493 illus., 377 illus. in color.onli
Human Thermal Conditions and North Europeans' Web Searching Behavior (Google Trends) on Mediterranean Touristic Destinations
This paper examines the relationship among the outdoor thermal
conditions in northern European countries and their individuals' web
searching frequency on summer holidays and touristic destinations. While
previous studies have examined biometeorological conditions' impacts by
comparing statistics from police and hospital archives, this paper
focuses on the Big Data gathered by Google and delivered by Google
Trends service as a new and promising species of data. The correlation
of those two factors (thermal conditions and searching frequency)
indicates the connection between the atmospheric thermal conditions and
the alteration of human behaviour and desires. The analysis and the
visualization of time-series, longer than a decade, retrieved by five
countries, reveal the anticipated seasonal covariance and a striking
impact of the thermal conditions on the searching behavior of the
individuals. Additionally, the paper introduces a new field of combined
utilization of web searching activity and atmospheric data
Estimation of Particulate Matter Impact on Human Health within the Urban Environment of Athens City, Greece
The main objective of this work is the assessment of the annual number
of hospital admissions for respiratory diseases (HARD) due to the
exposure to inhalable particulate matter (PM10), within the greater
Athens area (GAA), Greece. To achieve this aim, on the one hand, time
series of the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10
mu m (PM10) recorded in six monitoring stations located in the GAA, for
a 13-year period 2001-2013, have been statistically analyzed. On the
other hand, the AirQ2.2.3 software developed by the World Health
Organization (WHO) was used to evaluate adverse health effects by PM10
in the GAA during the examined period. The results show that, during the
examined period, PM10 concentrations present a significant decreasing
trend. Also, the mean annual HARD cases per 100,000 inhabitants ranged
between 20 (suburban area) and 40 (city center area). Approximately 70%
of the annual HARD cases are due to city center residents. In all
examined sites, a declining trend in the annual number of HARD cases
appears. Moreover, a strong relation between the annual number of HARD
cases and the annual number of days exceeding the European Union daily
PM10 threshold value was found
Performance of Aether Low-Cost Sensor Device for Air Pollution Measurements in Urban Environments. Accuracy Evaluation Applying the Air Quality Index (AQI)
Significant portions of European cities’ population are still exposed to
levels of air pollution deemed harmful by the World Health Organization.
Given the high impact of air pollution both on human health and the
economy, numerous low-cost electrochemical sensor monitoring systems are
being installed. The market is forced to develop new air quality
monitoring systems to meet the needs of providing forecasting services
based on advanced technologies and protocols that utilize certain
characteristics such as high accuracy, real-time monitoring, daily and
yearly statistics, data access from both experts and simple users with
the use of low-cost equipment. In this study, conducted in Athens,
Greece, a comparison is attempted between the findings from a low-cost
electrochemical sensor device and those of a static, fixed site
measurement monitoring station; this comparison is based on the data
quality and Air Quality Index (AQI) concerning data accuracy and quality
on adverse health effects due to air pollution. With regard to the
prediction of different AQI intervals, TPR ranges from 35.2% up to
100.0%, FPR from 0.0% up to 36.1% and FNR from 0.0% up to 38.1%.
The outcome of this study reveals flexible and affordable alternatives
adopted during the evaluation and calibration of low-cost gas sensors
for monitoring