Explore the vast range of titles available.

Allergic diseases are a major public health problem globally and are increasing. The impacts of climate change on aeroallergens such as pollen and fungal spores and allergic respiratory diseases such as allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis have been considered since the early years of climate change and human health research, and exploration of this topic has accelerated over the past decade or so. This review examines the impacts of climate change on aeroallergens, including interactions with air pollutants, and the resulting impacts on allergic respiratory diseases. It discusses mitigation and adaptation in this context. It does this with a focus on advances over the last 2 years (2019 and 2020) to highlight research at the frontier of this field. It also explores the growing recognition of the need for a more holistic and integrated approach to environmental monitoring and exposure and presents the concept of the aeroexposome as a frame through which these impacts of climate change and responses to them could be viewed moving forward. As the evidence of impacts of climate change on aeroallergen production and atmospheric concentration, seasonality, distribution, and allergenicity mounts, crucial research demonstrating the resulting impacts on health outcomes such as aeroallergen sensitisation prevalence, asthma emergency department visits, and asthma hospitalisations is now emerging. It is vital that the momentum of the last decade continue with research to fill the many gaps that remain in our knowledge of this complex topic-refining analytical techniques, broadening the geographical coverage (to include, for example, the Southern Hemisphere), and more explicitly exploring the impacts of climate change on indoor aeroallergens.

Temperature and crime is one of the most extreme relationships between the atmospheric environment and human behaviour, yet our knowledge about it is primarily based on Northern Hemisphere research. This study used both temporal and spatial models to investigate the relationship between temperature and crime in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, using an 11-year data set. Results suggested that assault and theft counts were significantly higher in summer than winter (17.8 and 3.7%, respectively), while fraud counts were not significantly different. Using linear and quadratic terms for maximum daily temperature, a linear regression model indicated that daily assault counts significantly increased with rising temperature and the rate of increase slowed as temperatures exceeded 30 °C. Theft counts significantly increased with rising temperature then declined as temperatures exceeded 30°C. Again, there was no evidence of a relationship between temperature and frequency of fraud count. Spatial modelling revealed that 96% of local government areas (LGAs) in NSW had a higher summer assault rate than winter. The findings of this study provide an empirical foundation for understanding crime-temperature relationships in Australia.

Climate change has the potential to have many significant impacts on aeroallergens such as pollen and mould spores, and therefore related diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis. This paper critically reviews this topic, with a focus on the potential adaptation measures that have been identified to date. These are aeroallergen monitoring; aeroallergen forecasting; allergenic plant management; planting practices and policies; urban/settlement planning; building design and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC); access to health care and medications; education; and research.

The composition and relative abundance of airborne pollen in urban areas of Australia and New Zealand are strongly influenced by geographical location, climate and land use. There is mounting evidence that the diversity and quality of airborne pollen is substantially modified by climate change and land-use yet there are insufficient data to project the future nature of these changes. Our study highlights the need for long-term aerobiological monitoring in Australian and New Zealand urban areas in a systematic, standardised, and sustained way, and provides a framework for targeting the most clinically significant taxa in terms of abundance, allergenic effects and public health burden.

Understanding the relationship between fire behavior and the driving weather conditions is critical for fire management and long-term fire risk assessment. In this study, we focus on two wildfire events: the Split wildfire in Croatia and the Forcett–Dunalley wildfire in Tasmania, Australia. The antecedent weather in both events included extremely dry conditions and higher-than-average air temperatures in the months prior to the events. The synoptic patterns in both events consisted of a large surface pressure gradient, which generated strong wind, driving the fire’s spread. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was utilized to simulate fire weather conditions during the development of the two events. In the innermost domain of WRF, resolution is 500 m with explicit moisture calculation only, and there are 66 vertical levels, with about 20 of them to resolve the boundary layer. The WRF simulations are well verified by station observations, including upper-level wind speeds. The convergence line pattern in the Tasmanian event, which was conducive to intense plume development, has been well simulated. Only a slight discrepancy was identified in the simulation of the coastal change in wind direction in the Croatian event. It is identified that in the Split case, bura wind was highly coupled with an upper-level trough, which induced subsidence of the upper-level dry and cold air to the surface, causing rapid drying of the fuel. During the Forcett–Dunalley fire, the atmosphere was unstable, which enabled deep pyrocumulonimbus development. In general, the development from ignition to the timing of the most extreme fire intensity in both events was largely determined by the evolution of the surface to upper-level meteorological drivers. While these extreme meteorological conditions would impact fire-fighting strategies such as aircraft operations, a model-based estimate of the high-risk areas is critical. Our findings would also benefit an estimate of the climatology of fire events with similar behavior and thus a long-term fire risk assessment.

There are more incidents of violence in summer and on hot days, a trend likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Urban areas experience additional temperature modulation due to the urban form, however, to date, no studies have considered the effect of the urban heat island (UHI) or green space with respect to the temperature–violence relationship. This study modelled the relationship between the number of daily violent crime incidents that occurred inside or outside between July 2013 and June 2018, and the average surface UHI or percentage greencover (including grasses, shrubs and trees) within each local government area in Greater Sydney, Australia. Panelised negative binomial time series regression models indicated that the violent crime rate was associated with higher surface UHI for crimes committed outside (p = 0.006) but not inside (p = 0.072). Greater percentage of all vegetation was associated with significantly lower rates of violent crime committed outside (p = 0.011) but was not associated with violent crimes committed inside (p = 0.430). More socio-economic disadvantage was associated with higher rates of violent crime committed inside (p = 0.002) but not outside (p = 0.145). Greater temperature was non-linearly associated with higher rates of violent crime committed both inside and outside (p < 0.001). The findings of this study are important because both violence and heat exposure are critical health issues and will be stressed by urbanisation and climate change. The expansion of green space and/or reduction in UHI may mitigate these effects.

Terrestrial air-surface exchange of mercury (Hg) forms an important component of the global Hg cycle, with drivers varying across spatial and temporal scales. These drivers include substrate properties, atmospheric chemistry, and meteorological factors. Vegetation uptake represents the dominant pathway of atmospheric Hg deposition to terrestrial surfaces. This study investigated the drivers of net ecosystem exchange of gaseous elemental mercury (Hg0) across multiple seasons in order to gain an understanding of the influence of vegetation and other environmental parameters on the Hg0 air-surface exchange. Measurements were made continuously using a micrometeorological aerodynamic flux gradient method at a low-vegetated background site in south-eastern Australia, over 14 months. Mean Hg fluxes and atmospheric concentrations across the entire study period were 0.002 ng m–2 h–1 (SD ± 14.23 ng m2 h–1) and 0.68 ng m–3 (SD ± 0.22 ng m–3), respectively. Variability was observed across seasons, with the highest average rate of emissions occurring in austral summer (December, January, February) (0.69 ng m–2 h–1) and the highest rate of deposition observed in autumn (March, April, May) (–0.50 ng m–2 h–1). Vegetation uptake dominated Hg flux during the winter and spring when meteorological conditions were cold and light levels were low. This is supported by CO2 flux data, with a daytime winter mean of 0.80 µmol m–2 h–1 and a spring daytime mean of 1.54 µmol m–2 h–1. Summer Hg fluxes were dominantly emission due to higher solar radiation and temperature. Climatic conditions at Oakdale allowed plant production to occur year-round, however the hot dry conditions observed in the warmer months increased evasion, allowing this site to be a small net source of Hg0 to the atmosphere.