Against the background of climate warming and humidification, the so-called 'divergence problem' reduces the stability of tree rings in response to climate, and affects the reliability of tree-ring reconstruction. Investigation of the divergence problem is crucial to improve our understanding of the response patterns of trees to climate warming, and provide a scientific basis for accurate climate reconstruction. Based on tree-ring width data for Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) growing at low elevations in the eastern Altay Mountains, we analyzed the relationship between radial growth of trees and climatic factors in the context of abrupt climate change in this region. We calculated the proportional contribution of five climatic factors to the radial growth of trees, and discussed the response mechanism of radial growth of L. sibirica in combination with large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The radial growth of L. sibirica was mainly constrained by water availability. Before climate warming (1961-1990), the radial growth of L. sibirica was mainly limited by temperature in the previous June. After abrupt climate warming (1991-2020), there was a significant positive correlation between growth and soil moisture in the previous winter, suggesting that high temperatures in the following spring would limit tree radial growth if water availability was low. The attribution analysis results revealed that, before 1990, the proportional of relative contribution of temperature to radial growth of trees exceeded 60%. Since 1990, the proportional of relative contribution of water (precipitation and volumetric soil water) to growth of L. sibirica increased. This might reflect the combined effects of local climatic conditions and changes in large-scale atmospheric circulation.

Fine particulate matter (PM) is one of the major threats to human health, and may partly responsible for intentional self-harm deaths, while the limited results seemed contradictory. Further analysis on PM constituents may provide more reliable evidence. Heavy metals are crucial toxic components of PM that may induce suicide behavior. What role do PM-bound heavy metals play in a threat to intentional self-harm death is still unclear. Two-year data of daily PM-bound heavy metals (including metalloids) and daily intentional self-harm deaths were collected in Guangzhou. Bayesian kernel machine regression, weighted quantile sum, and quantile-based g-computation models were employed to depict the relationships between heavy metals and intentional self-harm deaths. The number of intentional self-harm deaths was 217 and 283 for 2015 and 2016, respectively. A positive correlation was found between the combined effect of the 13 heavy metals and intentional self-harm deaths. Nickel, cadmium, and iron were the primary contributors to this positive correlation. Heavy metal components play significant roles in PM-related intentional self-harm deaths, and targeted source control measures are warranted to protect residents from suicide.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a globally significant cereal crop, widely used in both food production and brewing. However, it is particularly vulnerable to climate change, especially extreme temperature fluctuations, which can severely reduce yields. To address this challenge, a detailed climate zoning study was conducted to assess the suitability of barley production areas across South America, considering both current conditions and future climate scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The study utilized historical climate data along with projections from the CMIP6 IPSL-CM6A-LR model for the period 2021-2100. Several indices, such as evapotranspiration, were calculated, and factors like soil composition and topography were integrated into the classification of regions based on their agricultural potential. Critical variables in this assessment included temperature, precipitation, and water or thermal excess. The results showed that 6.59% of South America's territory is currently suitable for barley cultivation without additional irrigation, with these regions concentrated primarily in temperate southern areas. In contrast, 18.62% of the region is already unsuitable due to excessive heat. Projections under future climate scenarios indicate a shrinking of suitable areas, alongside an expansion of unsuitable regions. In the worst-case scenario, only 1.48% of the territory would remain viable for barley farming. These findings emphasize the crop's vulnerability to climate change, underscoring the urgency of developing agricultural adaptation strategies. The predicted contraction in suitable barley cultivation areas demonstrates the profound impact of climate change on agriculture and highlights the need for proactive measures to ensure sustainable barley production in South America.

Numerous studies have shown that climate change is impacting the airborne pollen concentration of various anemophilous plant species, both herbaceous and woody. The aim of this study was to determine whether this trend, highly marked in Europe, is also occurring in the city of Huelva (south-western Spain), an area with a milder Mediterranean climate. The factors influencing the main pollen season were studied for all local taxa accounting for more than 1% of the total pollen collected, over the period 1993-2022, using a volumetric Hirst type trap to determine concentration. The study included a trend analysis of meteorological variables susceptible to climate change, specifically maximum, minimum and average temperature, precipitation and the number of hours of insolation per day. Although some of the variables analysed do not show significant trends for most taxa, such as start date or peak date, the overall results indicate a trend in the airborne pollen dynamics for herbaceous and woody taxa. Six of the eight woody taxa studied showed a significant trend towards increased pollen concentration, some of which are associated with temperature in previous seasons. In contrast, three of the five herbaceous taxa, which are more sensitive to short term meteorological variables, show a significant acceleration in the end date of the main pollen season, correlated negatively with temperature and insolation. In conclusion, some incipient changes are occurring, which may be indicative of future consequences on biodiversity in the Mediterranean area influenced by the Atlantic Ocean.

Crop phenology is very important in regular crop monitoring. Generally, phenology is monitored through field observation surveys or satellite data. The relationships between ground observations and remotely sensed derived phenological data can enable near-real-time monitoring over large areas, which has never been attempted on hazelnuts. In this study, we extracted phenological metrics derived from MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) in hazelnut production regions and compared them with the spring ground phenological data (BBCH scale) from orchards located in the same area of Turkey over the period from 2019 to 2022. We observed a specific temporal dynamic between remote sensing phenometrics and ground observations. The metrics Greenup, Upturning Date, and Threshold 20% metrics corresponded to the early of EVI growth and were synchronous with the female flowering of hazelnut and ending before bud break. The metrics Threshold 50% and Start of season were associated with the steepest portion of the EVI curve, i.e., canopy greening and thickening, and occurred between ovaries enlargement and leaves unfolding. The metrics Peak of Season, Stabilization Date, and Maturity corresponded to the end of spring vegetative growth. The main outcomes are that (i) female flowering occurred before 20% of vegetation development (BBCH 64P occurred about one month before Threshold 20%), (ii) phenometrics from satellite remote sensing (i.e., Upturning Date and Threshold 20%) well-reflected leaf emergence (r = 0.30 and r = 0.32, respectively; p < 0.05) and unfolding (r = 0.35 and r = 0.39, respectively; p < 0.05), and (iii) cluster appearance temporally aligned with the peak of the EVI curve (Stabilization Date and BBCH 71P differed by around 4 days). Our method is transferable to operational phenology monitoring, and future applications will consider the senescence season and the effect of environmental variability on the comprehension of vegetation dynamics.

Intensive observations were collected in a wide range of synoptic weather conditions to evaluate variability in the intra-urban heat island on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte between February 2023 and June 2023. An easily reproducible bicycle-based mobile transit route around the university was traversed during 20 afternoon and 20 evening periods. The magnitude of observed temperature range from an individual data collection period is defined as the campus urban heat island intensity, with areas having more anthropogenic modification also having higher temperatures. While other papers have examined the relationship between the city-scale urban heat island intensity and the present weather conditions, this paper aims to disentangle the relationship between present weather conditions and the magnitude of thermal variability across a small intra-urban campus with diverse land use and land cover characteristics. This will contribute to a better understanding of intra-urban heat islands, particularly identifying days where conditions will be highly dangerous in more developed areas, and not in more natural environments. When comparing the standardized mobile-transit observations to the regionally present weather conditions it is evident that clear and calm conditions often enhance both city-scale and campus-scale heat islands, increasing temperature disparities. While the spatial distribution of warm and cool areas across campus remains relatively constant, the campus-scale heat island is significantly modulated by the present weather conditions.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is one of the top risk factors for death and disability. Meteorological conditions have an effect on IS attack. In this study, we try to develop models of medical meteorological forecast for IS attack based on machine learning and deep learning algorithms. The medical meteorological forecast would be beneficial to public health in IS events prevention and treatment. We collected data on IS attacks and climatology in each day from 18th September 2016 to 31th December 2020 in Haikou. Data on IS attacks were from the number of hospital admissions due to IS attack among general population. The random forest (RF) regression and long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithms were respectively used to develop the predictive model based on meteorological data. Performance of the model was assessed by mean squared error (MSE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). A total of 42849 IS attacks was included in this study. IS attacks were significantly decreased in winter. The pattern of climatological data was observed the regularity in seasons. For the performance of RF regression model, the MSE is 243, and the RMSE is 15.6. For LSTM model, the MSE is 36, and the RMSE is 6. In conclusion, LSTM model is more accurate than RF regression model to predict IS attacks in general population based on meteorological data. LSTM model showed acceptable accuracy for the prediction and could be used as medical meteorological forecast to predict IS attack among population according to local climate.

In an era where global climate change is shifting plant phenology, global meta-analyses of multiple species are required more than ever. Common language or references for enhanced data compatibility are key for such analyses. Although the Plant Phenology Ontology (PPO) addresses this challenge, it does not capture several relevant reproductive structures that are critical in species with long reproductive cycles, like many Eucalyptus species. We reviewed the terminology and concepts that describe reproductive structures in eucalypts and compared them with the existing classes of the PPO to explore the PPO's potential for harmonizing disparate eucalypt datasets. We identified incongruencies within and between eucalypt terminology and the PPO. We tested the sensitivity of the PPO for capturing key eucalypt phenological structures and found it sensitive to classification of certain structures. To address these limitations, we developed the Eucalyptus Phenology Ontology (EPO), a new ontology that builds on the PPO and captures key reproductive structures using a more refined classification. The EPO integrates the relationships between reproductive structures, phenological stages, and phenological traits. The vocabulary is species-neutral so it can be applied to other taxa but specifies the synonyms and descriptions required to capture the complexity of eucalypt phenology.

The flowering period of durian is influenced by weather conditions such as prolonged drought and low temperatures. However, the specific criteria and durations of these conditions remain unclear. This study aimed to identify weather conditions that trigger durian flowering by monitoring its phenology and analyzing the relationship between minimum temperature and rainfall using two types of durian- grafting type and seed-grown type. Three flowering events were observed in 2022 and two in 2023. Considering there were no differences in the number or timing of flowering events among the two types, it suggests that genetic background differences do not influence flowering phenology. All flowering events were best explained using the 15-day moving average of rainfall, with the peak of the first flowering occurring approximately 50 days after the 15-day moving average of rainfall fell below 1 mm. These results suggest that drought accumulation over approximately 15 days may trigger the induction of durian flower buds. However, no correlation was determined between the minimum temperature and the first flowering date. These findings indicate that durian flowering is induced by milder drought conditions than those previously proposed. Differences in variety and climate may have led to results different from those reported in earlier studies. Long-term monitoring across multiple sites and varieties is required to discuss these differences further.

This study investigates the impact of regional climate changes on the production, quality, chemical composition, and phenological patterns of Rioja wine in Spain from 1993 to 2017. Data from DOCa Rioja and the Marqués de Riscal winery were analyzed in conjunction with meteorological and remote sensing data to provide a comprehensive evaluation. The findings reveal an increase in alcohol content and pH, coupled with a decrease in acidity, correlative to phenological shifts such as earlier grape ripening and reduced leaf canopy. Additionally, a thorough examination of monthly climate anomalies highlights the significance of May in determining harvest outcomes, influenced by the Eastern Atlantic (EA) mode of low-frequency variability. The potential connection between springtime weather conditions and tropical climate variability is also explored.

There is a growing interest in weight loss in today's world. Environmental factors are the main contributor behind the rapidly spreading obesity during pandemic. Exercise and diet are two controllable elements that significantly effect on energy balance., The use of cold application such as cold-water immersion, cold abdominal pack, balneotherapy, cold exposure, water drinking, steam, and sauna sessions, has shown a positive impact in weight management. This review explains the mechanism and various types of hydrotherapy applications managing weight through thermogenesis and non-shivering thermogenic pathways, which involve the brown adipose tissue, and dependent on uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Hence the present literature provides insight into use of hydrotherapy applications for future direction in weight management.

The present study aims to explore the potential biomarker application of salivary heat shock 70 kDa protein in detecting thermal stress in dairy animals noninvasively. The study spans for 45 days during the mid-summer season (April-May), involving twelve multiparous non-pregnant adult Jersey crossbred cows by randomly allocating them into groups (six animals in each group). The control animals were maintained in the shed, whereas the thermal stress group animals were exposed to environment heat between 10:00 h to 16.00 h and they were feed and watered ad libitum. During the experimental period, the hematobiochemical, physiological, behavioural, nutritional and production responses were recorded and the whole blood and saliva were collected fortnightly. Results revealed significant increase in WBC, AST, ALP, blood urea nitrogen, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, blood and salivary cortisol, respiratory rate, rectal temperature, skin temperature of neck, lumbar and forelimb regions, standing time, salivary and blood HSP70 mRNA expression and their protein concentrations in heat stressed animals. In addition, RBC, haemoglobin, MCV, PCV, platelet, platelet-large cell ratio (PLCR), lying time, feed intake, milk yield and rumination time were significantly decreased in thermally stress animals. Furthermore, ROC curve analysis revealed the biomarker potential of these significantly altered parameters with 100% sensitivity and specificity for predicting environmental heat stress in dairy cows with AUC and Youden's - index of 1.00 except platelet. Moreover, salivary HSP70 demonstrated significant correlation with these biomarkers. Noteworthily, salivary HSP70 also exhibited strong association with blood HSP70 and salivary cortisol. Furthermore, salivary HSP70 revealed 100% sensitivity and specificity in discriminating the dairy cattle succumbed to heat stress from healthy. In conclusion, the present study provides a newer insight into the multifaceted roles of HSP70 and identified salivary heat shock 70 kDa protein as a potential, reliable and more sensitive non-invasive biomarker for identifying environmental heat stress in dairy cattle.

Urbanization is widely acknowledged as a driving force behind the increase in land surface temperature (LST), while blue-green spaces (BGS) are recognized for their cooling effect. However, research on the long-term correlation between the two in highly urbanized areas remains limited. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating the correlation and changes between urban expansion-induced LST rise and the cooling effect of BGS in the Hangzhou metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020. Our approach combines Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platforms, utilizing a random forest land use classification technique in conjunction with the Geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model. The findings reveal a strong relationship between land expansion and the intensification of the surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect. The spatial heat island effect exhibits an exponential expansion in area, with an interannual LST rise of 0.4 °C. Notably, urban centers exert the highest regional heat contribution, while remote suburbs have the most significant impact on reducing LST. The impact of BGS on LST varies, fluctuating more in areas close to urban centers and less in water-rich areas. This study contributes to a better understanding of the cooling potential of BGS in rapid urbanized Metropolitan, offering valuable insights for sustainable urban planning.

Extreme heat is the deadliest meteorological hazard and is increasingly affecting the southeastern United States. Health effects of extreme heat are often not felt for hours or days after exposure and disproportionately affect vulnerable populations (e.g., youth, minorities). Personal heat exposure research has focused on occupational and everyday heat exposure among adults. To date, heat exposure in teenage populations has not been investigated. This population has unique heat exposure patterns that result from lifestyles that include outdoor jobs (e.g., lifeguard) and participation in outdoor sports. Better understanding of these exposure patterns is needed to reduce youth exposure and illnesses during heat events. Likewise, there have been no studies comparing paired indoor home conditions with individual exposure. Participants (n = 10) wore sensors to collect six days of personal heat exposure data (temperature and humidity) and placed sensors in and around their homes to collect ambient household data. When comparing individual exposure with ambient outdoor conditions and household conditions, this study revealed that: 1) teenagers are less exposed to dangerous heat (> 37.8 °C heat index) during the day; 2) teenagers are more exposed to dangerous heat (> 23.9 °C temperature) at night; 2) some teenagers are exposed to long periods of high heat at night, which is typically a time for heat recovery; and 3) household temperatures are typically not representative of heat exposure. To better understand teen exposure, we recommend future research focus on larger, representative sample sizes, collecting exposure data during the school year, and comparing exposure between heatwave and normal summer conditions.

The survival of mosquitoes under changing climatic conditions particularly temperature, is known to be supported by Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs). In view of climate change, it is imperative to know whether the mosquito vectors will be able to withstand the increased temperatures or perish. Therefore, the present study was undertaken on the expression of HSPs' gene in An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti by exposing them to temperatures ranging from 5 to 45°C for 15-180-minutes for once and continuously or with rest in between. We compared the temperature-tolerance of both the vectors in terms of expression of HSP83, HSP70, and HSP26 genes at varying degrees of temperature and duration. HSP70 and HSP26 were found distinctively expressed in both the vectors as compared to HSP83. With continuous exposure up to 180-minutes at 35°C and 40°C, HSP70 was found upregulated up to 35 and 47 folds in Ae. aegypti while in An. stephensi, the expression was only 1 fold. Between the genes, HSP70 was highly expressed at different temperatures followed by HSP26 and HSP83. The manifold up-regulation of HSP genes in Ae. aegypti than An. stephensi may be attributed to the robustness of Aedes vector in terms of temperature tolerance. This study has shown that Ae. aegypti and An. stephensi can withstand considerable temperature stress by expressing HSPs when exposed to variable temperature and duration. In view of changing climate, the study provides a clue that the vector of dengue and zika virus will be difficult to control.

The study aims to evaluate the effects of diurnal temperature range (DTR) on all causes, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions in the Central Coast of Vietnam, a tropical, low-income region with high DTR exposure but limited research. Daily hospital admission data from the largest hospitals in three provinces were analyzed alongside meteorological data. A time-series analysis using a generalized linear distributed lag model was conducted to examine the non-linear DTR-hospitalization association. A random-effect meta-analysis using restricted maximum likelihood was performed to calculate the pooled effects across three provinces. Stratified analyses by gender, age, season and natural disaster occurrence were conducted to identify vulnerable subpopulations. The multi-province pooled effects indicated that a 1 °C increase in DTR raised the risk of hospitalizations for all causes and respiratory diseases by 1.5% [1.2-1.8%] and 0.5% [0.0-1.0%], at lag 0-6 days. The effects of DTR on cardiovascular diseases, as well as those stratified by subgroups, were not statistically significant. Additionally, DTR had a greater adverse effect during the dry season and in the presence of natural disaster. Females and the elderly were slightly more susceptible to respiratory admissions, while males and younger individuals had a higher risk of all-cause admissions due to greater DTR effects. DTR was an independent risk factor for the exacerbation of all and specific causes, particularly among the susceptible subgroups. The findings suggested that it is necessary to take preventive measures to protect these at-risk populations from the adverse effects of extreme DTR exposure.

Heat stress in hyper-prolific lactating sows is recognised as a factor reducing feed intake, milk production, and welfare, with significant losses in farm productivity. Individual capacities for body thermoregulation during environmental hyperthermia determine the adaptation of the animal during long and recurrent events. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopy as a high-throughput method to identify markers of stress in plasma and milk collected from lactating sows under heat stress conditions fed with two levels of protein in the diet defined as low (16%) and standard (20%). The MIR spectra were analysed using linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and principal component analysis and validated using cross-validation. The results obtained indicated that MIR spectroscopy, in combination with chemometrics, was able to identify changes in the spectra associated with heat stress in wavenumbers corresponding with amide groups (proteins) (highest loadings observed in the regions between1065 and 1635 cm), lipids and unsaturated fatty acids (regions between 1746 and 3063 cm), lipo-polysaccharides (in 1247 cm) and carbohydrates (around the region1050 cm). These results also indicated that the information provided by these wavenumbers can be used as metabolic markers of the adaptation of the sows to hyperthermia. It was concluded that MIR spectroscopy is a rapid and inexpensive tool capable of detecting and evaluating the main biochemical changes of hyperthermia on lactating sows, facilitating the development of palliative management strategies such as dietary manipulations.

Heat-health warning systems and services are important preventive actions for extreme heat, however, global evidence differs on which temperature indicator is more informative for heat-health outcomes. We comprehensively assessed temperature predictors on their summer associations with adverse health impacts in a high-density subtropical city. Maximum, mean, and minimum temperatures were examined on their associations with non-cancer mortality and hospital admissions in Hong Kong during summer seasons 2010-2019 using Generalized Additive Models and Distributed Lag Non-linear Models. In summary, mean and minimum temperatures were identified as strong indicators for mortality, with a relative risk(RR) and 95% confidence interval(CI) of 1.037 (1.006-1.069) and 1.055 (1.019-1.092), respectively, at 95th percentile vs. optimal temperature. Additionally, minimum temperatures captured the effects of hospital admissions, RR1.009 (95%CI: 1.000- 1.018). In stratified analyses, significant associations were found for older adults, female sex, and respiratory-related outcomes. For comparison, there was no association between maximum temperature and health outcomes. With climate change and projected increase of night-time warming, the findings from this comprehensive assessment method are useful to strengthen heat prevention strategies and enhance heat-health warning systems. Other locations could refer to this comprehensive method to evaluate their heat risk, especially in highly urbanized environments and subtropical cities.

With higher temperatures expected in the future due to global climate change, addressing health risks such as heat illness is increasingly important. In Japan, thousands of heat illness cases occur annually during school sports club activities. The risk may vary by sport, location, and region, but how heat safety thresholds (HSTs) should be adjusted to provide effective guidelines remains uncertain. Thus, we conducted a case-crossover study using data of heat illness cases and wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) throughout Japan to evaluate the heat illness risk for the current HSTs and propose adjustments. A significant relationship was found between heat illness incidence and WBGT at the time of the incident, as well as the average WBGT one and two days prior. The risk significantly varies with factors such as club, region, location, year, month, and the average WBGT in summer. Therefore, we recommend lowering the current HSTs by one category (3 °C) in the following cases: (1) clubs at high risk (baseball, softball, soccer/futsal, tennis, track and field, kyudo, and other with sustained exercise or thick uniforms); (2) from April to June; (3) in cooler regions (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Hokuriku, or where the average WBGT in summer≦18℃); (4) for outdoor activities; (5) when heat rapidly increases without adequate heat acclimatization. These findings may inform educators, students, sports authorities, and policymakers in adjusting HSTs to reduce the incidence of heat illness, thereby ensuring safer environments for school sports activities.

Terrestrial ecosystems are one of the major sinks of atmospheric CO and play a key role in climate change mitigation. Forest ecosystems offset nearly 25% of the global annual CO emissions, and a large part of this is stored in the aboveground woody biomass. Several studies have focused on understanding the carbon sequestration processes in forest ecosystems and their response to climate change using the eddy covariance (EC) technique and remotely sensed vegetation indices. However, very few of them address the linkage of tree-ring growth with the ecosystem-atmosphere carbon exchange, and nearly none have tested this linkage over a long-term (> 100 years) - limited by the short-term (< 50 years) availability of measured ecosystem carbon flux. Nevertheless, tree-ring indices can potentially act as proxies for ecosystem productivity. We utilise the Coupled Climate Carbon Cycle Model Intercomparison Project (C4MIP) model outputs for its 140-year-long simulated records of mean monthly gross primary productivity (GPP) and compare them with the tree-ring growth indices over the northwestern Himalayan region in India. In this study, we examine three coniferous tree species: Pinus roxburghii and Picea smithiana wall. Boiss and Cedrus deodara and find that the strength of the correlation between GPP and tree ring growth indices (RWI) varies among the species.