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15th International Congress of Biometeorology & International Conference on Urban Climatology
"Biometeorology and Urban Climatology at the Turn of the Millennium"
8 - 12 November 1999 Sydney, Australia

Weather and climate conditions have significant effects on health and the well being of life on planet Earth. Human beings, animals and plants respond physiologically to a number of atmospheric conditions, including those of temperature, precipitation, humidity wind, solar radiation and air pollution. Although ecosystems have a great capacity to adapt to variations in climate and environmental conditions, stress beyond tolerable limits can be very destructive. For instance, extremely high air temperatures can cause heat stroke and death. Recent studies provide evidence that the relationship between human mortality and thermal stress is stronger than expected with deaths during unusually hot episodes rising over 50% above normal baseline levels. Mortality resulting from heat stress in urban areas is expected to increase substantially over the next few decades. Extreme climate stress also arises from natural disasters such as tropical cyclones, droughts and floods. Natural disasters are also often linked directly or indirectly to health problems. They often create conditions that are favourable for certain diseases such as malaria, cholera and diarrhoea. Droughts can also trigger mass migration, hunger and malnutrition and may engender diseases that are linked to lack of food and clean water.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded some years ago that human-induced activities could lead to changes in the mean global temperatures of between 1 to 3.5°C. Such changes may cause zones with suitable habitat for species to move. Significant reduction of soil water availability could lead to forest decline. There could also be indirect problems such as more floods and greater erosion caused by more intense rainfall. Lakes, streams and wetlands will be influenced by altered water temperatures, flow regimes and water levels. The degradation of the savannah ecosystems will have further implications for animals and migratory birds. Deserts are likely to become hotter and not wetter. Altered rainfall amount, seasonality and increased evapotranspiration will lead to major alterations in productivity and species composition in tropical rangelands. In a warmer climate, general circulation models project that between one-third and one-half of existing mountains glacier mass could disappear over the next 100 years.

Human activities are also known to deplete the atmospheric ozone that protects life on planet Earth from dangerous UV radiation from the Sun. Such dangerous radiation has been associated with health problems such as sunburn, suppression of the immune system, skin cancer and eye damage, as well as with adverse effects on plants.

According to UN estimates, world population reached the six billion mark in October, 1999, and is estimated to be about 8 billion by the year 2025 and 10 billion in the year 2050. Already about 1/2 of the world's population lives in urban areas and predictions for the year 2025 shows that 2/3 of the world's population will be city dwellers. Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to changes in environmental conditions. Unplanned settlements and urban centres are particularly sensitive to natural disasters, since 1/3 of the urban populations lives in sub-standard housing and 40% do not have access to save drinking water or adequate sanitation. Furthermore, the urban population is increasingly subjected to an environment, which is often polluted by metals, pollen and fungal spores, as well as toxic emissions and gases. Such pollutants are produced from burning of fossil fuels, urban water waste discharge, factories, offices and residential area. Some of these pollutants have been associated with acid rain and dry toxic deposits, which continue to contaminate farmlands, forests, and water sources and fish stocks, in many parts of the world. Local effects from pollutants such as smog and low-level ozone concentrations, as well as the presence in the air of certain pollens, have also been linked to acute attacks of asthma and other respiratory diseases.

It is also well known that urbanisation and other land use activities can change the climate on a local level and create heat island and urban-rural wind effects that have far-reaching implications for pollution transmission. The health of populations in distant areas can therefore be affected by pollutants transported from a distant point source such as a small number of factories in urban areas. However, in large cities, the combination of urban wind, temperature, rainfall, humidity and air quality can make the urban populations more vulnerable than their rural counterparts.

The world's largest scientific forum on biometeorology and urban climatology, the 15th International Congress of Biometeorology (ICB) and the International Conference on Urban Climatology (ICUC), was held jointly for the first time in Sydney from 8 - 12 November 1999 with the participation leading scientists, meteorologists and academics from all five continents. Co-ordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB), the two scientific meetings held joint working sessions to break walls between various disciplines. The conferences were also sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Macquarie University, the German Meteorological Society (DMG) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

In an opening address underlining the importance of the event, Prof. Godwin Obasi, Secretary-General of WMO, invited the participating scientists to explore new ways of modifying the biological impacts of climate change, including urbanisation policies, within the framework of the Climate Agenda. Prof. Obasi also called for the initiation of services such as, UV and sunburn forecasts, thermal advisories and bioclimatic maps to alleviate the impacts of excessive heat stress, air pollution and high pollen and dust counts throughout the world. He pointed that in view of the growing concern regarding the continued growth in the world's population especially in urban areas, the degradation of the environment, the dwindling water resources and the projected impact of climate change on sustainable development, the joint scientific event was timely, and it was appropriate that it would deal with topics related to the interactions between atmosphere and the biosphere as well as those related to urban atmosphere and the hydrosphere.

Over 400 working papers submitted by a large number of scientists, researchers, universities and specialised institutes dealt with topics varying from genetic adaptation and animal biometeorology to satellite and remote sensing of urban climates. Experts from ICB and ICUC were able to exchange views and draw up some common strategies in addressing those issues. In addition to minimising duplication of efforts, this approach also provided opportunities for developing synergies in fields that can significantly contribute to the welfare of humanity. The Congress and Conference examined the impacts of urban climates on human health, ecosystems, energy utilisation in buildings, energy resource efficiency and urban design. They also explored issues such as the impacts of global warming, El Nino and the Antarctic ozone hole on the levels of morbidity and mortality, as well as indoor climate and air quality, and climate change and decision-making. Linkages with other branches of social and natural sciences were discussed. Strategies and programmes for human adaptation to significant changes in climate over the next 100 years and the development of appropriate international, national and community responses to worsening natural disasters were also high on the agenda. Following were the major scientific themes (sessions) and key topics addressed by the two scientific meetings:

15th International Conference on Biometeorology

International Conference on Urban Climatology

Contact:

Vesselin Alexandrov
National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
BG-1784 Sofia

Josef Eitzinger
Institute of Meteorology and Physics
University of Agricultural Sciences, (BOKU)
A-1180 Vienna
       
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