Translating climate service into personalized adaptation strategies to cope with thermal climate stress

Thermal climate affects health and productivity for millions of European workers. Extreme weather events such as heat waves and cold spells are major health challenges especially for elderly and other vulnerable groups. The consequences of thermal stress are dependent not only on climate factors, but also on individual thermal regulation capacity, acclimatization, body heat production, and clothing. For the purpose of warning and preparedness, weather forecasts will be more valuable if combined with individual characteristics and translated into personalized adaptation strategies. In this project, researchers and stakeholders from climate services and end-user organizations will collaborate with thermal physiologists, protective clothing and hydration experts, sociologists, and engineers. The overall aim is to develop an advanced App that integrates weather forecast data into a human heat balance model. The model will combine climate service with individual user characteristics and thermal physiology to provide a user-friendly and interactive mobile tool to improve decision-making for adaptation strategies. The ClimApp will provide timely and relevant guidelines for individuals and the public and private sectors, so that they can take actions to improve thermal resilience, health and productivity when facing thermal climate challenges.

Heat waves and cold spells have severe health consequences - increasing deaths and illnesses, especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Heat and cold also affects health and productivity of millions of European workers. Climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of these extreme weather events.
Improvements in climate services – the quality and delivery method of weather and climate information - are therefore necessary in order to help minimise the negative impact of these events.
However, the impact of heat and cold stress on health and productivity are dependent not only on climate factors, but also on human physiology, body heat production, and clothing. Clothing influences the heat exchange between the human body and the environment. For the purpose of warning and preparedness, weather forecasts will be more valuable if combined with individual characteristics and translated into personalized adaptation strategies.
In this project, researchers and stakeholders from climate services and end-user organizations will collaborate with physiologists, protective clothing and hydration experts, sociologists and engineers. The overall aim is to develop an advanced App that integrates weather forecast information into a human heat balance model. The model will combine individual user characteristics and physiology to provide a user-friendly and interactive mobile tool to improve decision-making for adaptation strategies. The ClimApp is expected to provide timely and relevant guidelines for individuals and the public and private sectors, so that they can take actions to improve health, climate adaptation capability and productivity when facing climate challenges.