UC Berkeley Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 14;18(4):1843. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041843.
Global climate change is a clear and present danger to our environment, but the impacts of climate change on human health are less known. People in Asian countries are more susceptible to the negative impacts of climate change and the subsequent environmental exposures because of the high population density, rapid urbanization, and natural geography of the region. The objective of this multidisciplinary collaborative ecological study was to explore the impact of environmental exposures such as temperature (°C), noise (db), humidity (%rh), air conditioning exposure time (hours), and distance traveled to school (km) on the comfort and academic success of school children in Singapore. Analysis of a large dataset from the Singapore National Science Experiment revealed a positive correlation between the distance traveled to school and favorable environmental conditions (moderate temperatures, low noise, low humidity, and higher amount of air conditioning time) and student academic performance. The analysis revealed that the distance traveled between home and school for public school students falls within a larger range than that for independent (private) school students. On average, students traveled farther distances to attend schools of higher academic caliber thereby increasing their exposure to environmental pollution. Student exposure to pollution can be minimized if all schools adhere to higher standards of environmental comfort and standardized academic caliber. If students can attend the school closest to their homes, they can minimize their daily pollution exposure due to traffic/commute, thereby mitigating the resultant negative health consequences.
全球气候变化对我们的环境构成了明显而现实的威胁，但气候变化对人类健康的影响却鲜为人知。由于该地区人口密度高、城市化进程迅速以及自然地理条件等原因，亚洲国家的人们更容易受到气候变化的负面影响以及随后的环境暴露的影响。本多学科合作的生态研究旨在探索环境暴露因素，如温度（°C）、噪声（db）、湿度（%rh）、空调暴露时间（小时）和上学距离（km）对新加坡学童舒适度和学业成功的影响。对来自新加坡国家科学实验的大型数据集的分析表明，上学距离与有利的环境条件（适度的温度、低噪声、低湿度和更高的空调时间）与学生学业成绩呈正相关。分析表明，公立学校学生上下学的距离比私立（独立）学校学生的距离范围更大。平均而言，学生为了上更高学术水平的学校而走更远的路，从而增加了他们接触环境污染的机会。如果所有学校都能达到更高的环境舒适度和标准化的学术水平，就可以最大限度地减少学生的污染暴露。如果学生能就近上学，他们可以减少因交通/通勤而导致的日常污染暴露，从而减轻由此产生的健康后果。
