Title: Effects of heat waves determined by different definitions on mortality rate in Southeast Türkiye, 2010-2019

Authors: Hazal Cansu Culpan; Tuba Rastgeldi Dogan; Gunay Can

Addresses: Altindağ District Health Directorate, Ankara, Turkey ' Department of Environmental Engineering, Harran University, Osmanbey Campus, Şanliurfa, Turkey ' Department of Public Health, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract: The present study aims to examine the effect of heat waves (HW) determined by different definitions on mortality rate in Şanliurfa between 2010-2019. The HW determined by 95th percentile and excess heat factor (EHF) increased the mortality rate and caused 55 excess deaths in ten days and 129 excess deaths in 26 days, respectively. Four HW were observed by percentile method while four more HW were determined with EHF. This study suggests that health impacts differ as the definition of HW changes. To conduct prospective studies during HW may help to find the most appropriate definition for local conditions.

Keywords: climate change; heat wave; excess heat factor; EHF; mortality rate; Türkiye.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2024.135981

International Journal of Global Warming, 2024 Vol.32 No.2, pp.213 - 225

Received: 30 Jan 2023
Accepted: 16 Jul 2023
Published online: 11 Jan 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article