Intensive urbanization and global warming are impacting the health and well-being of urban population. Nevertheless, urban environments with different designs will have different micro and local climate conditions. This study used data from micrometeorological measurements performed in different urban spaces (downtown, urban park, riverside) in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on hot summer days in June 2021. Air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and globe temperature were measured and Mean Radiant Temperature (Tmrt), Psychologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), and modified Psychologically Equivalent Temperature (mPET) were calculated for each location. Results show that the downtown is the most uncomfortable area in terms of the highest Ta, Tg, Tmrt, PET, and mPET values registered at this location. The urban park is the most comfortable area with the lowest values of Tg, Tmrt, PET, and mPET. Relative humidity is the highest at the riverside and the lowest in downtown. Furthermore, riverside had lower average Ta during summer daytime compared to urban park and downtown likely due to the synergy between river cooling effect (evaporation and sensible heat transfer) and tree shade.
Climate change at the regional and local levels is forcing strong implementation of urban adaptation strategies related to climate-conscious urbanization and public health. Accordingly, the application of parameters that assess thermal stress in urban areas, such as outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) indices, is of paramount importance. As a contribution to this statement, long-term (1961-2020) datasets of daily OTC indices for the city of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Hercegovina) were used. Detailed temporal analysis using Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and Mean Radiant Temperature (Tmrt) was performed for (a) the entire research period, (b) the decadal level, and (c) defined heat/cold stress subcategories. The results show an intensive increase in extreme/strong heat days in the last 20 years, and the number of these days is five times higher than in the’70 s and’80 s. Decreasing tendencies are noticed in extreme/strong cold days towards the last two decades.
BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is the most common zoonotic disease in Tuzla Canton. Objective: Determine the influence of environmental and precipitation factors on the incidence of leptospirosis. METHODS: A retrospective study included 80 patients with leptospirosis. Data on precipitation were obtained from the online database of Federal Hydrometeorological Institute of BiH. OpenStreetMap (OSM) was used for spatial analysis; patients were geolocated and put on a map. Statistical data processing included basic tests of descriptive statistics. RESULTS: In the period between 01.01.2014 and 31.12.2014, 80 patients with leptospirosis confirmed by clinical and serological testing were hospitalized in the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the University Clinical Center Tuzla. Gender wise, out of 80 patients, 54 were male (67.5% of the total), and 26 were female (32.5%). More patients lived in the countryside: 64/80 (or 89%). The largest number of patients was engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry: 48/80 (or 60%), mostly cows 32/80 (40%), chickens 12/80 (15%), sheep 4/80 (5%) and pigs 3/80 (3.8%). Of the total number of patients, 50 (or 62.5%) had contact with domestic animals: dogs 10/80 (or 12.5%) and cats 5/80 (or 6.3%). Half of 53/80 (66.3%) patients had contact with flooded areas in the study period. The increase in leptospirosis diagnosed patients in the City of Srebrenik was statistically significant for 2014 (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Leptospirosis in one of the neglected infectious diseases in our area, but the proven increase in the number of infected people after heavy rainfall obliges us to control the risks associated with this disease.
