Abstract
Bioclimatic indices are very important tools to evaluate the thermal stress of the human body. The aims of this study were to analyze the general bioclimatic conditions in ten big cities in Romania and to find out if there has been any change in five bioclimatic indices over a 56-year period: 1961–2016. The indices considered were: equivalent temperature, effective temperature, cooling power, universal thermal climate index and temperature-humidity index. They were calculated based on the daily meteorological data of air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed recorded in 10 weather stations in Romania: Bucharest-Băneasa, Botoșani, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța, Craiova, Galați, Iași, Oradea, Sibiu and Timișoara. The features investigated for trend detection consisted of the frequency and length of the occurrence period for each class and for each index. The test used for trend detection was Mann-Kendall and the magnitude of the trend (the slope) was calculated by employing Sen’s slope method. The main results are based on frequency analysis. Three indices showed comfort class as dominant whereas the other two indicated cold stress conditions as dominant in the area. There was a shift from the cold stress conditions to the warm and hot ones for all the indices. The most stressful conditions for hot extremes did not indicate significant change. The climate in the big cities of Romania became milder during the cold season and hotter during the warm period of the year. The analysis of the length of each thermal class indicated mainly longer occurrence periods during the year for comfortable or warm stress classes.
Highlights
Much interest is shown nowadays, in the era of climate change, to information about the local impact of climate changes in every domain of our lives, from politics to public health and even science [1]
The main objectives of this study are: (i). to assess the general bioclimatic conditions, based on five bioclimatic indices in 10 of the largest cities of Romania, and (ii). to find out if there has been any change in the bioclimatic indices over a 56 year period (1961–2016) in terms of duration of their occurrence period (DOP) and frequency of occurrence considering the number of days for each class (FO)
For most of the cases, the DOP exceeds 150 days/year, with the cool and slightly cool classes exceeding 200 days/year, or even 250 days/year in western Romania; these conditions are mostly accomplished all year round, except for hot summer days, which are characterized by DOP varying from 100 to 150 days/year corresponding to slightly sultry sensations, respectively less than 50 days/year for sultry conditions
Summary
Much interest is shown nowadays, in the era of climate change, to information about the local impact of climate changes in every domain of our lives, from politics to public health and even science [1]. It is already widely known that one of the main consequences of global air temperature rises is the increasing frequency of intense, extreme events [2,3,4]. They lead, mostly during extreme seasons, to severe impact on different social and economic sectors, causing serious health problems to the population and disturbing agriculture, transportation, building industry and tourism activities. The mitigation and adaptation strategies propose both general and specific measures such as the continuous information and education of the population, preservation of the natural resources, encouraging infrastructure and geo-system resilience processes, as well as expanding green spaces and parks, building green infrastructure, innovation and diversification of winter tourism through finding new solutions independent of snow [6]. Some of the proposed solutions by the same institution are developing pilot projects for acclimatization, infrastructure and green spaces, as well as the development of local, regional and national climatic change adaptation strategies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
