Julio Díaz

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Verified

Julio verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Director Reference Unit at Climate Change Health at Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Background In line with WHO guidelines for the implementation of public health prevention plans targeted at the impacts of high temperatures, a heat wave definition temperature (Tthreshold) was calculated for 182 so-called “isoclimatic zones” (IZ) in Spain. As the dependent variable for determining this Tthreshold, we analysed daily all-cause morta...

Mental and behavioral disorders are an important public health problem and constitute a priority for the WHO, whose recommendations include the surveillance of their risk factors. On the other hand, drought episodes have been increasing in frequency and severity in Europe since 1980. Therefore, to review the present knowledge about the impact of dr...

While some studies report a possible association between heat waves and kidney disease and kidney-related conditions, there still is no consistent scientific consensus on the matter or on the role played by other variables, such as air pollution and relative humidity. Ecological retrospective time series study 01-01-2013 to 31-12-2018). Dependent...

Aim: to assess the Heat (HW) and Cold Waves (CW) risks on health in the urban municipality of Getafe. Methodology: time series analysis between 01/01/1999-31/10/2013. Dependent variable: daily mortality due to natural causes - (ICD-10): A99-R99-. Independent variables: the maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) daily temperature. The mortality-te...

Background: A number of environmental factors, such as air pollution, noise in urbanised settings and meteorological-type variables, may give rise to important effects on human health. In recent years, many studies have confirmed the relation between various mental disorders and these factors, with a possible impact on the increase in emergency hos...

Air pollution has been linked to adverse neonatal outcomes, mainly in the case of prolonged exposures. This study focuses on the short-term effects on maternal health. We conducted a retrospective ecological time-series study in the Madrid Region covering the period 2013-2018. The independent variables were mean daily concentrations of tropospheric...

Urban heat islands (UHIs) have become an especially relevant phenomenon as a consequence of global warming and the growing proportion of people living in cities. The health impacts that are sometimes attributed to the rise in temperature generated in an UHI are not always adequately justified. The objective is to analyse what effect UHIs have on ma...

Background: Studies which analyse the joint effect of acoustic or chemical air pollution variables and different meteorological variables on neuroendocrine disease are practically nonexistent. This study therefore sought to analyse the impact of air pollutants and environmental meteorological variables on daily unscheduled admissions due to endocr...

Climate change is currently regarded as the greatest global threat to human health, and its health-related consequences take different forms according to age, sex, socioeconomic level, and type of territory. The aim of this study is to ascertain the differences in vulnerability and the heat-adaptation process through the minimum mortality temperatu...

Introduction: The aim of this study was to study the effect of air pollution and noise has on the population in Madrid Community (MAR) in the period 2013-2018, and its economic impact. Methods: Time series study analysing emergency hospital admissions in the MAR due to all causes (ICD-10: A00-R99), respiratory causes (ICD-10: J00-J99) and circul...

The capacity for adaptation to climate change is limited, and the elderly rank high among the most exposed population groups. To date, few studies have addressed the issue of heat adaptation, and little is known about the long-term effects of exposure to heat. One indicator that allows the ascertainment of a population’s level of adaptation to heat...

Background: In Spain, two synoptic-scale conditions influence heat wave formation. The first involves advection of warm and dry air masses carrying dust of Saharan origin (North African Dust (NAF) = 1). The second entails anticyclonic stagnation with high insolation and stability (NAF) = 0). Some studies show that the meteorological origin of these...

Food security and food safety are two concepts related to food risks. The majority of studies regarding climate change and food risks are related to the security of food provision. The objective of this study was to review the current state of knowledge of the influence of climate change on food production and food safety. The literature search was...

Ante el cambio climático, las actuaciones no deben dirigirse únicamente hacia la mitigación de emisiones. Es necesario un esfuerzo en adaptación que minimice la vulnerabilidad de las personas a los problemas en salud derivados del cambio climático. Son necesarios sistemas epidemiológicos de alerta temprana centrados en salud ambiental y en especial...

Background The objective of this study was to identify which air pollutants, atmospheric variables and health determinants could influence COVID-19 mortality in Spain. This study used information from 41 of the 52 provinces in Spain (from Feb. 1, 2021 - May 31, 2021). Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with Poisson link were carried out for the provi...

In Spain the average temperature has increased by 1.7°C since pre-industrial times. There has been an increase in heat waves both in terms of frequency and intensity, with a clear impact in terms of population health. The effect of heat waves on daily mortality presents important territorial differences. Gender also affects these impacts, as a dete...

Background The objective was to analyze whether there are differences in vulnerability to Extreme Cold Days (ECD) between rural and urban populations in Spain. Methodology Time series analysis carried out from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2013. Municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants were included from 10 Spanish provinces, classified...

In contrast to research on heat waves, there are no studies in recent years that analyze the temporal evolution of threshold temperatures (Tthreshold) for extremely cold days (ECD). It is unknown whether threshold temperatures have increased more quickly than the minimum daily temperature (Tmin) in recent years. The objective of this study was to a...

This study aims to identify the combined role of environmental pollutants and atmospheric variables at short term on the rate of incidence (TIC) and on the hospital admission rate (TIHC) due to COVID-19 disease in Spain. This study used information from 41 of the 52 provinces of Spain (from Feb. 1, 2021 - May 31, 2021). Using TIC and TIHC as depen...

Influyen la contaminación atmosférica y las variables meteorológicas en la mortalidad por COVID-19? Estudio comparativo de series temporales entre la primera y segunda ola en nueve provincias españolas ¿A poluição do ar e as variáveis meteorológicas influenciam a mortalidade por Covid-19? Estudo comparativo de séries temporais entre a primeira e a...

Abstract: EU is currently immersed in policy development to address the effects of climate change around the world. Key plans and processes for facilitating adaptation to high temperatures and for reducing the adverse effects on health are among the most urgent measures. Therefore, it is necessary to understand those factors that influence adaptati...

The aim of this research is to study the influence of atmospheric pollutants and meteorological variables on the incidence rate of COVID-19 and the rate of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 during the first and second waves in nine Spanish provinces. Numerous studies analyze the effect of environmental and pollution variables separately, but few...

Introduction: There is currently little knowledge and few published works on the subject of vulnerability to heat in rural environments at the country level. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether rural areas are more vulnerable to extreme heat than urban areas in Spain. This study aimed to analyze whether a pattern of vuln...

Background: While many studies analyse the effect of extreme thermal events on health, little has been written about the effects of extreme cold on mortality. This scarcity of papers is particularly relevant when we search studies about extreme cold on the health of rural population. Therefore, we tries to analyse the effect of cold waves on urban...

Background: An area of current study concerns analysis of the possible adaptation of the population to heat, based on the temporal evolution of the minimum mortality temperature (MMT). It is important to know how is the evolution of the threshold temperatures (Tthreshold) due to these temperatures provide the basis for the activation of public heal...

Background There are studies that analyze the role of meteorological variables on the incidence and severity of COVID-19, and others that explore the role played by air pollutants, but currently there are very few studies that analyze the impact of both effects together. This is the aim of the current study. We analyzed data corresponding to the pe...

Background While there is much research that focuses on the association between cold spell and their impacts on daily mortality at the city level, we analyze the impact related to social context and demographic variables at levels lower than the municipal. Methods The objective of this study was to determine the role of the percentage of people ov...

Backgraund The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the effect of high temperatures on daily mortality in the urban and rural populations in Madrid. Methods Data were analyzed from municipalities in Madrid with a population of over 10,000 inhabitants during the period from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2013. Four groups were genera...

Scientific evidence suggests that Saharan dust intrusions in Southern Europe contribute to the worsening of multiple pathologies and increase the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. However, few studies have examined whether Saharan dust intrusions influence the incidence and severity of COVID-19 cases. To address this q...

In this chapter, we explore technology options to avoid indoor overheating in buildings, and most importantly, how these can be used to protect people. In particular, we highlight the possibilities of cool roofs in buildings and district cooling in cities.

Scientific evidence suggests that Saharan dust intrusions in Southern Europe contribute to the worsening of multiple pathologies and increase the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. However, few studies have examined whether Saharan dust intrusions influence the incidence and severity of COVID-19 cases. To address this...

The objective of this study was to analyze at the level of Spain’s 52 provinces province level the temporal evolution of Minimum Mortality Temperatures (MMT) from 1983-2018, in order to determine whether the increase in MMT would be sufficient to compensate for the increase in environmental temperatures in Spain for the period. It also aimed to ana...

Recent research has addressed the special relationship between energy poverty and women. Despite that not many studies are yet available, results show that there might be strong gender inequalities connected with household’s energy deprivation. Furthermore, differentiated health impacts have been detected between men and women, putting women into a...

The objective of this study was to analyze and compare the effect of high temperatures on daily mortality in the urban and rural populations in Madrid. Data were analyzed from municipalities in Madrid with a population of over 10,000 inhabitants during the period from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020. Four groups were generated: Urban Metropoli...

This publication collates and summarizes the most relevant evidence published on heatwaves, heat and public health prevention thereof since 2008, focusing primarily on the 53 Member States in the WHO European Region. Findings are organized around the elements the original guidance document identified as “core” to a comprehensive heat–health action...

Research that analyzes the effect of different environmental factors on the impact of COVID-19 focus primarily on meteorological variables such as humidity and temperature or on air pollution variables. However, noise pollution is also a relevant environmental factor that contributes to the worsening of chronic cardiovascular diseases and even diab...

Portugal (Southwestern Europe) experiences a high incidence of dry hazards such as drought, a phenomenon that entails a notable burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. For the first time in the Lisbon district, a time-series study was conducted to evaluate the impact of drought measured by the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standar...

While there is much research that focuses on the association between cold waves and their impacts on daily mortality at the city level, few analyze the impact related to social context and demographic variables at levels lower than the municipal. The objective of this study was to determine the role of the percentage of people over age 65, income l...

Según el Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), el 17,9 % de los hogares más pobres declaran no disponer de espacio suficiente. Según Eurostat, en 2017, más de 2 300 000 personas vivían en situación de hacinamiento en España, un 5,1 % de la población. Por su parte, la pobreza energética, es decir no poder mantener la vivienda a una temperatura ad...

El objetivo que se plantea en este trabajo es analizar diferentes factores atmosféricos como son las concentraciones de material particulado de diámetro inferior a 10 micras (PM 10), dióxido de nitrógeno (NO 2) y ozono troposférico (O 3) y la existencia o no de extremos térmicos, a través de la influencia de olas de calor y frío, inciden sobre el n...

El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar cómo los riesgos en la salud asociados a los eventos térmicos extremos se ven modificados por sexo y factores socioeconómicos y demográficos. Empleando la regresión de Poisson se calcularon los riesgos de morbimortalidad asociados a las olas de calor y frío. Se utilizó como variable dependiente la mortal...

The increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves is one of the most unquestionable effects of climate change. Therefore, the progressive increase in maximum temperatures will have a clear incidence on the increase in mortality, especially in countries that are vulnerable due to geographical location or their socioeconomic characteristics....

Although there is significant scientific evidence on the impact of heat waves, there are few studies that analyze the effects of sociodemographic factors on the impact of heat waves below the municipal level. The objective of this study was to analyze the role of income level, percent of the population over age 65, existence of air conditioning uni...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the mobility limitations imposed to try to contain its spread have led to a drastic decrease in emissions of air pollutants and CO2. For the former, the drop in the atmospheric concentrations of the main urban air pollutants leads to a decrease in mortality attributable to air pollution. This has not been the case in the c...

A performance assessment of two different indices (the Standardised Precipitation Index [SPI] and the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index [SPEI]) for monitoring short-term and short–medium term drought impacts on daily specific-cause mortality in Spain was conducted. To achieve a comprehensive, nationwide view, a meta-analysis was p...

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Climate change causes or aggravates a wide range of exposures with multiple impacts on health, both direct and indirect. Early warning systems have been established to act on the risks posed by these exposures, permitting the timely activation of action plans to minimize health effects. These plans are usually activated individually. Although they...

El incremento de las olas de calor en frecuencia e intensidad es uno de los efectos más incuestionables del cambio climático. Una forma de detectar la evolución del impacto del calor es a través del aumento de la denominada temperatura de mínima mortalidad (TMM). El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la evolución temporal de la TMM en dos provi...

La salud humana debe ser un área prioritaria en el contexto de la lucha contra el cambio climático. Ante el cambio climático siguen existiendo incertidumbres asociadas a los impactos en la salud. A pesar de estas, existe evidencia suficiente para justificar el fortalecimiento de la resiliencia de los sistemas de salud y garantizar que las acciones...

The Iberian Peninsula (IP) is recurrently affected by dust transport from the Sahara Desert and from the semi-arid Sahel regions. African dust is one of the most important sources of particulate matter in the southern Mediterranean. Therefore, it is vital to understand the underlying processes that lead to episodes of air pollution associated to th...

In this paper we establish the attributable risk on respiratory and cardiovascular disorders related to tra�ffic intensity in Madrid. In contrast to previous related studies, the proposed approach directly associates road trafficc counts to patient emergency admission rates instead of using primary air pollutants. By applying Shapley values over gr...

The year 2020 is forecasted to be one of the hottest on record. As we approach the warm season in Europe still under a pandemic situation, there is reason for strong concern that the pandemic may aggravate the health impacts of heat waves by hindering prevention efforts. The current situation may impair several aspects of heat-health prevention, in...

Spain is a country of southern Europe that is prone to drought, and it is likely that this type of hydrological extreme will become substantially more frequent and intense in the 21st century, which could lead to greater health risks if adequate adaptive measures are not taken. For the first time, we calculated the relative risks (RRs) of daily nat...

Studies show a relationship between some mental illnesses and suicides and different environmental variables such as air pollution, characterized by stress at the neuropsychological level. Despite the fact that traffic noise is also a powerful neurological stressor, studies that relate traffic noise to these mental disorders are practically non-exi...

The Mediterranean Basin is undergoing a warming trend with longer and warmer summers, an increase in the frequency and the severity of heat waves, changes in precipitation patterns and a reduction in rainfall amounts. In this unique populated region, which is characterized by significant gaps in the socio-economic levels particularly between the No...

The Mediterranean Basin is undergoing a warming trend with longer and warmer summers, an increase in the frequency and the severity of heat waves, changes in precipitation patterns and a reduction in rainfall amounts. In this unique populated region, which is characterized by significant gaps in the socioeconomic levels particularly between the Nor...

The objective of this study is to analyze the short-term effects of atmospheric pollutant concentrations (PM10, NO2 and O3) and heat and cold waves on the number of pre-term births and cases of low birth weight related to Saharan dust advection and biomass combustion. The dependent variables used in this analysis were the total number of births, bi...

There is little doubt about the effects of drought events on human health in the present climate. Projections of climate change indicate an increase in the occurrence and severity of droughts in the 21st century in a number of regions, thus it is likely that these types of hydrological extremes could have more of an impact if appropriate adaptation...

High temperatures have periodically affected large areas in Europe and urban settings. In particular, the deadly 2003 summer heat waves precipitated a multitude of national and subnational health prevention and research efforts. Building on these and other international experiences the WHO Regional Office for Europe developed and published in 2008...

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Introduction: Global warming is resulting in an increase in temperatures which is set to become more marked by the end of the century and depends on the accelerating pace of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Yet even in this scenario, so-called “cold waves” will continue to be generated and have an impact on health. Objectives: This stu...

en el verano de 2004, a través del Ministerio de Sanidad entonces existente, el "Plan Nacional de actuaciones preventivas de los efectos del exceso de temperaturas sobre la salud". Este plan en un principio asumía, que el aumento de la mortalidad por calor se producía cuando la temperatura máxima y mínima diaria superaban ambas el percentil 95 de l...

Climate change scenarios indicate an increase in the intensity and frequency of droughts in several regions of the world in the 21st century, especially in Southern Europe, highlighting the threat to global health. For the first time, a time-series diagnostic study has been conducted regarding the impact of droughts in Galicia, a region in north-we...

Background: In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted with the aim of analysing the impact that high temperatures will have on mortality over different time horizons under different climate scenarios. Very few of these studies take into account the fact that the threshold temperature used to define a heat wave will vary over time, an...

ground: Premature birth (less than 37 weeks of gestation) is the principal indicator of neonatal death during the first month of life and the second cause of death of children under age five. There are 15 million premature births (PTB) worldwide. Air pollution in cities, primarily the result of urban traffic, greatly impacts PTBs, though there are...

Background: According to the WHO, low birth weight (<2500 gr) is a primary maternal health indicator as the cause of multiple morbi-mortality in the short and long-term. It is known that air pollution from road traffic (PM10, NO2) and O3 have an important impact on low birth weight (LBW), but there are few studies of this topic in Spain. The object...

Aside from climatic factors, the impact of heat waves on mortality depends on the demographic and socio-economic structure of the population as well as variables relating to local housing. Hence, this study’s main aim was to ascertain whether there might be a differential impact of heat waves on daily mortality by area of residence. A time-series a...

Background: While numerous studies have shown that the impact of cold waves is decreasing as result of various processes of adaptation, far fewer have analysed the time trend shown by such impact, and still fewer have done so for the different provinces of a single country, moreover using a specific cold waves definition for each. This study thus a...

En España no existen trabajos actualizados sobre el impacto de la contaminación atmosférica sobre la mortalidad diaria a nivel provincial. Recientemente se han publicado tres artículos en relación al impacto que los niveles de PM10, NO2 y O3 tienen sobre la mortalidad diaria en las 52 capitales de provincia españolas, pero no existe una síntesis qu...

Background: A high number of women report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). It is of utmost importance to identify possible factors that precipitate IPV and incorporate them into police protocols for evaluating IPV risk. Scientific evidence shows that environmental temperature is associated with a risk of violent behavior. Objectives:...

There are practically no studies which analyse whether the implementation of prevention plans been followed by a reduction in the effect of high temperatures on hospital admissions. The aim of this study was thus to analyse the time trend in such admissions and ascertain which diseases require a greater degree of gender-specific healthcare when the...

Background: Few studies have analysed the relationship between environmental factors and Parkinson ’s disease (PD), and none have addressed the relationship between noise and PD. The objective is to explore whether there might be a short-term association between road traffic noise in the city of Madrid and PD-related demand for health care. Methods...

The impact of road traffic noise on health is an important issue worldwide. In Madrid (Spain), the existing high daily noise levels all year round have been associated with short-term cardiovascular mortality. A system dynamics model is constructed to estimate the evolution of the traffic noise impact on the population older than 65 in Madrid over...

Anticipating future workloads in a hospital may be of capital importance in order to distribute resources and improve patient attention. In this paper, we tackle the problem of predicting daily hospital admissions in Madrid due to circulatory and respiratory cases based on biometeorological indicators. A range of forecasting algorithms were propose...

Introduction: Direct health effects of extreme temperatures are a significant environmental health problem in Lithuania, and could worsen further under climate change. This paper attempts to describe the change in environmental temperature conditions that the urban population of Vilnius could experience under climate change, and the effects such ch...