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Veröffentlichung Occurrence and coupling of heat and ozone events and their relation to mortality rates in Berlin, Germany, between 2000 and 2014(2019) Fenner, Daniel; Holtmann, Achim; Krug, AlexanderEpisodes of hot weather and poor air quality pose significant consequences for public health. In this study, these episodes are addressed by applying the observational data of daily air temperature and ozone concentrations in an event-based risk assessment approach in order to detect individual heat and ozone events, as well as events of their co-occurrence in Berlin, Germany, in the years 2000 to 2014. Various threshold values are explored so as to identify these events and to search for the appropriate regressions between the threshold exceedances and mortality rates. The events are further analyzed in terms of their event-specific mortality rates and their temporal occurrences. The results reveal that at least 40% of all heat events during the study period are accompanied by increased ozone concentrations in Berlin, particularly the most intense and longest heat events. While ozone events alone are only weakly associated with increased mortality rates, elevated ozone concentrations during heat events are found to amplify mortality rates. We conclude that elevated air temperatures during heat events are one major driver for increased mortality rates in Berlin, but simultaneously occurring elevated ozone concentrations act as an additional stressor, leading to an increased risk for the regional population. Quelle: https://www.mdpi.comVeröffentlichung Heat-related mortality in Germany from 1992 to 2021(2022) Winklmayr, Claudia; Muthers, Stefan; Niemann, Hildegard; Mücke, Hans-Guido; Heiden, Matthias an derBackground: 2018-2020 were unusually warm years in Germany, and the summer of 2018 was the second warmest summer since record-keeping began in 1881. Higher temperatures regularly lead to increased mortality, particularly among the elderly. Methods: We used weekly data on all-cause mortality and mean temperature from the period 1992-2021 and estimated the number of heat-related deaths in all of Germany, and in the northern, central, and southern regions of Germany, employing a generalized additive model (GAM). To characterize long-term trends, we compared the effect of heat on mortality over the decades. Results: Our estimate reveals that the unusually high summer temperatures in Germany between 2018 and 2020 led to a statistically significant number of deaths in all three years. There were approximately 8700 heat-related deaths in 2018, 6900 in 2019, and 3700 in 2020. There was no statistically significant heat-related increase in deaths in 2021. A comparison of the past three decades reveals a slight overall decline in the effect of high temperatures on mortality. Conclusion: Although evidence suggests that there has been some adaptation to heat over the years, the data from 2018-2020 in particular show that heat events remain a significant threat to human health in Germany. © Authors