Dataset Information

Geographic and demographic variation in worry about extreme heat and COVID-19 risk in summer 2020.

ABSTRACT: Extreme heat is a major health hazard that is exacerbated by ongoing human-caused climate change. However, how populations perceive the risks of heat in the context of other hazards like COVID-19, and how perceptions vary geographically, are not well understood. Here we present spatially explicit estimates of worry among the U.S. public about the risks of heat and COVID-19 during the summer of 2020, using nationally representative survey data and a multilevel regression and poststratification (MRP) model. Worry about extreme heat and COVID-19 varies both across states and across demographic groups, in ways that reflect disparities in the impact of each risk. Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino populations, who face greater health impacts from both COVID-19 and extreme heat due to institutional and societal inequalities, also tend to be much more worried about both risks than white, non-Hispanic populations. Worry about heat and COVID-19 were correlated at the individual and population level, and patterns tended to be related to underlying external factors associated with the risk environment. In the face of a changing climate there is an urgent need to address disparities in heat risk and develop responses that ensure the most at-risk populations are protected.

SUBMITTER: Howe PD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9841085 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Geographic and demographic variation in worry about extreme heat and COVID-19 risk in summer 2020.

Howe Peter D PD Wilhelmi Olga V OV Hayden Mary H MH O'Lenick Cassandra C

Applied geography (Sevenoaks, England) 20230116

Extreme heat is a major health hazard that is exacerbated by ongoing human-caused climate change. However, how populations perceive the risks of heat in the context of other hazards like COVID-19, and how perceptions vary geographically, are not well understood. Here we present spatially explicit estimates of worry among the U.S. public about the risks of heat and COVID-19 during the summer of 2020, using nationally representative survey data and a multilevel regression and poststratification (M ...[more]

PMID: 36686332

Similar Datasets

Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic followed a unique trajectory in Eastern Europe compared to other heavily affected regions, with most countries there only experiencing a major surge of cases and deaths towards the end of 2020 after a relatively uneventful first half of the year. However, the consequences of that surge have not received as much attention as the situation in Western countries. Bulgaria, even though it has been one of the most heavily affected countries, has been one of those neglected cases. We use mortality and mobility data from Eurostat, official governmental and other sources to examine the development and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria and other European countries. We find a very high level of excess mortality in Eastern European countries measured by several metrics including excess mortality rate (EMR), P-scores, potential years of life lost (PYLL) and its age standardised version (ASYR), and working years of life lost (WYLL). By the last three metrics Eastern Europe emerges as the hardest hit region by the pandemic in Europe in 2020. With a record EMR at ~0.27% and a strikingly large and mostly unique to it mortality rate in the working age (15-64 years) demographics, Bulgaria emerges as one of the most affected countries in Eastern Europe. The high excess mortality in Bulgaria correlates with insufficient intensity of testing, with delayed imposition of "lockdown" measures, and with high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. We also find major geographic and demographic disparities within the country, with considerably lower mortality observed in major cities relative to more remote areas (likely due to disparities in the availability of medical resources). Analysis of the course of the epidemic revealed that individual mobility measures were predictive of the eventual decline in cases and deaths. However, while mobility declined as a result of the imposition of a lockdown, it already trended downwards before such measures were introduced, which resulted in a reduction of deaths independent of the effect of restrictions. Large excess mortality and high numbers of potential years of life lost are observed as a result of the COVID pandemic in Bulgaria, as well as in several other countries in Eastern Europe. Significant delays in the imposition of stringent mobility-reducing measures combined with a lack of medical resources likely caused a substantial loss of life, including in the working age population.

Project description:The summer semester had just begun at Austrian and German universities when Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Thus, in March 2020, all universities closed their campuses, switching to distance learning within the span of about a single day. How did lecturers handle the situation? Were they still able to turn the situation into a positive one? What were the main obstacles with this difficult situation, and where there conditions which helped them to overcome the new challenges? These are research questions of the present survey with a sample of 1,152 lecturers at universities in Austria and Germany. The survey focuses on the lecturers' appraisals of the novel situation as challenging or threatful. These appraisals are important for approaching a situation or shying away from it. However, how well a person adjusts to a novel situation is also influenced by personal and environmental resources which help to overcome the situation. The present survey focused on four possible sources of influence: internal assessments of the situation determining it to be threatening and/or challenging, personal resources, attitudes, and support by the organization. It was investigated to which degree these sources of influence could contribute to the lecturers' satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with their teaching processes. A multiple regression with three criterion variables describing university lecturers' perceived satisfaction with distance teaching was carried out. Predictor variables were the lecturers' appraisals of challenge and threat, perceived support by the university and sense of belonging to the university, temporal resources, proficiency in using digital technologies, length of teaching experience, and gender. Lecturers were mostly satisfied with their teaching activities. Together with the perception of a low threat potential, challenge appraisals contributed strongest to satisfaction. In comparison, assessments of actual personal resources, skills in the use of digital technologies, teaching experience, and temporal resources were important but contributed less to satisfaction than challenge appraisals. It seems that lecturers were only able to use these resources when the technological resources were available and when the lecturers were confident in their technical abilities.

Dataset Information

Geographic and demographic variation in worry about extreme heat and COVID-19 risk in summer 2020.

Publications

Geographic and demographic variation in worry about extreme heat and COVID-19 risk in summer 2020.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets