The growing threat of heat disasters

Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States and indoor exposure is responsible for a significant portion of the resulting fatalities. Evolving construction practices combined with urban development in harsh climates has led building occupants in many cities to rely on air cond...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Environmental research letters 2019-05, Vol.14 (5), p.54006
Hauptverfasser: Sailor, David J, Baniassadi, Amir, O'Lenick, Cassandra R, Wilhelmi, Olga V
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the United States and indoor exposure is responsible for a significant portion of the resulting fatalities. Evolving construction practices combined with urban development in harsh climates has led building occupants in many cities to rely on air conditioning (AC) to a degree that their health and well-being are compromised in its absence. The risks are substantial if loss of AC coincides with a hot weather episode (henceforth, a heat disaster). Using simulations, we found that residential buildings in many US cities are highly vulnerable to heat disasters-with more than 50 million citizens living in cities at significant risk. This situation will be exacerbated by intensification of urban heat islands, climate change, and evolving construction practices. It is therefore crucial that future building codes consider thermal resiliency in addition to energy efficiency.
ISSN:1748-9326
1748-9326
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ab0bb9