Kongju National University, 56 Gongjudaehak-ro, Gongju, 32588, Korea.
Korea Environment Institute, 370 Sicheong-daero, Sejong, 30147, Korea.
Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 17;13(1):922. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28018-z.
This study compared the relative risks of heat days on mortalities by vulnerable groups (elderly, single-person households, less-educated) in the past decade (1999-2008) and the recent decade (2009-2018) in four cities, Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, and Gwangju, in Korea. It has been known that the health impacts of heatwaves have gradually decreased over time due to socio-economic development, climate adaptation, and acclimatization. Contrary to general perception, we found that the recent relative risk of mortality caused by heat days has increased among vulnerable groups. It may associate with recent increasing trends of severe heat days due to climate change. The increasing relative risk was more significant in single-person households and less-educated groups than in the elderly. It implies that the impacts of climate change-induced severe heat days have been and will be concentrated on vulnerable groups. It suggests that social polarization and social isolation should be addressed to reduce heatwave impacts. Furthermore, this study shows the necessity of customized heatwave policies, which consider the characteristics of vulnerable groups.
本研究比较了过去十年（1999-2008 年）和最近十年（2009-2018 年）在韩国四个城市（首尔、仁川、大邱和光州）中，弱势群体（老年人、单身家庭、受教育程度较低者）因热天导致死亡的相对风险。由于社会经济发展、气候适应和适应等原因，热浪对健康的影响随着时间的推移逐渐减弱。与普遍看法相反，我们发现，最近弱势群体因热天导致死亡的相对风险有所增加。这可能与气候变化导致的严重热天的近期增加趋势有关。与老年人相比，单身家庭和受教育程度较低的群体的相对风险增加更为显著。这意味着，气候变化引起的严重热天的影响已经并将集中在弱势群体身上。这表明，应该解决社会两极化和社会隔离问题，以减少热浪的影响。此外，本研究表明，有必要制定考虑弱势群体特点的定制化热浪政策。
