Department of Meteorology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.
Glob Health Action. 2010 Nov 29;3. doi: 10.3402/gha.v3i0.5614.
In recent years the developing world, much of which is located in the tropical countries, has seen dramatic growth of its urban population associated with serious degradation of environmental quality. Climate change is producing major impacts including increasing temperatures in these countries that are considered to be most vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to inadequate public health infrastructure and low income status. However, relevant information and data for informed decision making on human health and comfort are lacking in these countries.
The aim of this paper is to study and compare heat stress conditions in an urban (city centre) and rural (airport) environments in Akure, a medium-sized tropical city in south-western Nigeria during the dry harmattan season (January-March) of 2009.
We analysed heat stress conditions in terms of the mean hourly values of the thermohygrometric index (THI), defined by simultaneous in situ air temperature and relative humidity measurements at both sites.
The urban heat island (UHI) exists in Akure as the city centre is warmer than the rural airport throughout the day. However, the maximum UHI intensity occurs at night between 1900 and 2200 hours local time. Hot conditions were predominant at both sites, comfortable conditions were only experienced in the morning and evenings of January at both sites, but the rural area has more pleasant morning and evenings and less of very hot and torrid conditions. January has the lowest frequency of hot and torrid conditions at both sites, while March and February has the highest at the city centre and the airport, respectively. The higher frequencies of high temperatures in the city centre suggest a significant heat stress and health risk in this hot humid environment of Akure.
More research is needed to achieve better understanding of the seasonal variation of indoor and outdoor heat stress and factors interacting with it in order to improve the health, safety, and productivity of Akure city dwellers.
近年来，发展中国家（其中大部分位于热带国家）的城市人口迅速增长，同时环境质量严重恶化。气候变化造成了重大影响，包括这些国家的气温升高，由于公共卫生基础设施不足和收入水平低，这些国家被认为最容易受到气候变化影响。然而，这些国家缺乏有关人类健康和舒适度的知情决策的相关信息和数据。
本文旨在研究和比较 2009 年干哈马丹季节（1 月至 3 月）尼日利亚西南部中等规模热带城市阿库雷（Akurre）市区（市中心）和农村（机场）环境中的热应激条件。
我们根据同时在两个地点进行的现场空气温度和相对湿度测量得出的热湿指数（THI）的小时平均值来分析热应激条件。
阿库雷存在城市热岛（UHI）现象，因为整个白天市中心比农村机场温暖。然而，最大的 UHI 强度出现在当地时间 1900 至 2200 之间的夜间。两个地点都以炎热条件为主，只有在一月的早晨和傍晚，两个地点都有舒适的条件，但农村地区的早晨和傍晚更宜人，炎热和闷热的条件较少。一月两个地点的炎热和闷热条件出现频率最低，而三月和二月的城市中心和机场的炎热和闷热条件出现频率最高。市中心高温出现的频率较高，表明在阿库雷这种炎热潮湿的环境中存在明显的热应激和健康风险。
需要进行更多的研究，以更好地了解室内外热应激的季节性变化以及与其相互作用的因素，以便改善阿库雷城市居民的健康、安全和生产力。
