2B.6
BIOMETEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION FOR the PUBLIC
Tanja Cegnar, Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Vojkov, Slovenia
Slovenian Meteorological office successfully issues daily bioweather information for public since 1992. The attitude of media and public towards bioweather information has slowly changed during this period. After slight scepticism at the beginning bioweather forecasts has gained due attention and recognition in the media. In spite of all the efforts made to promote the preventive aspects of such information it is still a common praxis that the interest of journalists increases each time after the occurrence of an extreme event. On the other side public is looking forward to receive practical advice; a demand increases each time the weather conditions become anomalous. The Meteorological Office is providing as much useful and applied information as possible, but a complementary medical part of information should be developed further. Medical experts show moderate interest in research and investigation of weather impacts on human beings, but little room is left for application of the acquired knowledge in the praxis.
On mortality data for Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from 1985 to 1995 seasonal and daily variations of mortality in relationship to weather conditions are presented. As Slovenia has quite different climatic conditions, we have to face the problem of relatively small samples what complicates the development and application of such watch warning systems for extreme weather as were developed for cities in the USA and recently also for Rome. Especially the problem of thresholds, ratio between false alarms and missed events are delicate problems, which require further investigation.
Session 2B, Methodological Procedures in Heat/Health Evaluations
Monday, 28 October 2002, 2:00 PM-3:30 PM
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