Extreme temperatures risk

City of Turin (IT)

Indicators: 

Mean near surface temperature deviation (urban) (ESS code: 13_30)

Close UN indicator: 13.1.1

Copernicus components

Objectives:

This pilot aims to integrate high-resolution atmospheric data provided by different state-of-the-art datasets from different spatial and temporal domains to define which climate indicators could be used within a risk framework that considers the link between heat and health (i.e., mortality and morbidity). Thanks to the different data resolution, the case study will also analyse the correlation between the quality of the results and the atmospheric data resolution. For this purpose, Copernicus products from C3S will be combined with near-surface mean temperature information, such as the VHR- REA_IT dataset provided by the CMCC (Raffa et al., 2021), Urbclim data (De Ridder et al., 2015) or UERRA- MESCAN SURFEX. Very high-resolution information on settlements, impervious areas, green spaces and the CLMS urban atlas will also be a valuable input to be integrated into the analysis. In particular, the relationship with health will be explored. The Pilot will be useful for all sectors related to health and urban planning.

Expected results:

The output of this pilot is expected to be a Copernicus-based tool that will provide clear indications on the distribution of health risk arising from extreme temperatures in the investigated urban area. The risk assessment will be based on the evaluation of specific indicators, providing essential information on all the components requested by the risk analysis: hazard, exposure and vulnerability. With the assistance of a Decision Support System (DSS), users can interact with maps and explore data, facilitating the comparison of various factors and spatial resolutions.

SDGs-EYES partners:

• Leader: ASLTO3
• Partners: CMCC

Stakeholders:

The intended user chain consists of health policymakers, territorial/urban planners, local authorities, and other local health stakeholders. Specifically, the key stakeholders identified to date are the following:

• Arpa Piemonte (Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment)
• Civil Protection
• Turin Municipal Administration
• Other regional and local decision-makers in health and social policies and institutions
• Active citizenship
• University of Turin (Inter-university Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning)
• A.o.

Recent research has revealed that extreme temperature events constitute the leading cause of weather-related mortality. Europe is bracing for substantial temperature increases, with the most pronounced warming anticipated in the Mediterranean regions. Among these, Italy is the country with the highest heat-related effects on daily mortality considering summer temperatures, especially considering the northern regions (WHO, 2018). Located in the north-west part of Italy, Turin is the fourth largest Italian urban area (Ellena et al., 2023).

World Health Organization (WHO), 2018. Climate and Health Country Profile: Italy. Web link: https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/260380

 Ellena M, Melis G, Zengarini N, Di Gangi E, Ricciardi G , Mercogliano P, Costa G, Micro-scale UHI risk assessment on the heat-health nexus within cities by looking at socio-economic factors and built environment characteristics: The Turin case study (Italy),Urban Climate, Volume 49, 2023, 01514, ISSN 2212-0955, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101514

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