Background and Goals
The aim of the joint project is to gain scientific knowledge about the Bavarian climate adaptation strategy in the field of human health. The findings are intended to support actors in Bavaria in planning, selecting and evaluating suitable measures for adapting to climate change in the field of health. The thematic priorities of the joint project "Climate Change and Health" are:
- Effects of climate change on human health.
- Health effects of infectious diseases, which are atypical for Bavaria, but can occur increasingly in the course of climate change in Bavaria.
- Monitoring and forecasting climate-related changes in health-related environmental parameters.
- Elaboration of climate protection and climate adaptation measures to inform citizens that aim to protect human health.
The following projects were funded in the first funding period:
- "Mosquito-borne arboviral diseases in Bavaria (BayVirMos)" - University of Bayreuth
- "Bio-Climatic Information System (BioClis)" - University of Augsburg
- "Climate change promotes toxic cyanobacteria - detection of cyanotoxin genes in water (CYTOXKLIMA)" - Technical University of Munich
- "Effect of climate change on pollen in Bavaria (KLIMApollen)" - Technical University of Munich
- "Mitigation of Urban Climate and Ozone Risks (MiSKOR)" - University of Bayreuth
- "Thunderstorm Asthma in the Augsburg Region (TARA)" - University of Augsburg & UNIKA-T
- "Influence of extreme weather events in climate change on human health (WIKLIGE)" - Technical University of Munich
Content time
toResearch area/region
Country
- Germany
Region of implementation (all German federal states)
- Bavaria
Steps in the process of adaptation to climate change
Step 2a: Identify and assess risks - climate effects and impact
Approach and results
In the "BayVirMos" project, risk maps were drawn up for the spread of the animal-borne diseases Chikungunya, Dengue, West Nile Fever and Usutu in Bavaria.
In "BioClis" a tool is created that allows an extensive assessment of the health risk caused by various environmental influences such as air pollutants (NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10, SO2) and meteorological influences such as air temperature, radiation temperature, wind and humidity.
"CYTOXKLIMA" aims to investigate the presence of various cyanotoxin genes in selected Bavarian waters in order to enable a better assessment of the risk potential for humans.
The aim of "KLIMApollen" is to be able to map expected changes under the influence of climate change on the composition, amount and allergenicity of pollen in Bavaria and to make them available to the public in the form of a pollen calendar.
In "MiSKOR" the pollution caused by the urban heat island effect and by ozone in and around cities is examined.
In "TARA", the risk potential of thunderstorm-related asthma for Bavaria is estimated.
In "WIKLIGE", the influence of the Universal Termal Climate Index (UTCI) - an index that describes the thermal load on human beings resulting from environmental conditions - on human health is considered.
Step 3: Develop and compare measures
Measures and/or strategies
Depending on the research focus of the various projects, measures for adaptation to climate change are developed in the field of human health.
Participants
Funding / Financing
Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Pflege, Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz
Project management
Bayerisches Landesamt für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit
Cooperation/Partners
Universität Bayreuth, Universität Augsburg, Technische Universität München, UNIKA-T
