Geographia Polonica (2001) vol. 74, iss. 1

Mortality in Warsaw: is there any connection with weather and air pollution?

Magdalena Kuchcik

Geographia Polonica (2001) vol. 74, iss. 1, pp. 29-45 | Full text

Abstract

City inhabitants are becoming more and more sensitive to weather changes and extreme atmospheric events. According to certain scientific reports mortality from cardiovas-cular and respiratory diseases is associated with oppressive weather conditions. In the years 1994-1995 a significant rise in mortality was found for Warsaw when particularly hot weather conditions, characteristic of a subtropical air mass, occurred. A synoptic approach in this type of research has been confirmed, and consideration of the influence of combined meteorological parameters on humans (via a biometeorological index) is seen to be much more fruitful and justified than using separate meteorological parameters in calculations.

Keywords: mortality, weather, air pollution, Warsaw

Magdalena Kuchcik [mkuchcik@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland