Geohealth最新文献

Biological soil crusts (or biocrust) are diminutive soil communities with ecological functions disproportionate to their size. These communities are composed of lichens, bryophytes, cyanobacteria, fungi, liverworts, and other microorganisms. Creating stabilizing matrices, these microorganisms interact with soil surface minerals thereby enhancing soil quality by redistributing nutrients and reducing erosion by containment of soil particles. Climatic stressors and anthropogenic disturbances reduce the cover, abundance, and functions of these communities leading to an increase of aeolian dust, invasive plant establishment, reduction of water retention in the environment, and overall poor soil condition. Drylands are the most degraded terrestrial ecosystems on the globe and support a disproportionately large human population. Restoration of biocrust communities in semi-arid and arid ecosystems benefits ecosystem health while decreasing dust emissions. Dust abatement can improve human health directly but also indirectly by reducing pathogenic microbe load circulating in the ambient air. We hypothesize that biocrusts not only reduce pathogen load in the air column but also inhibit the proliferation of certain pathogenic microbes in the soil. We provide a review of mechanisms by which healthy biocrusts in dryland systems may reduce soil-borne pathogens that impact human health. Ecologically sustainable mitigation strategies of biocrust restoration will not only improve soil conditions but could also reduce human exposure to soil-borne pathogens.

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of <10 μm (PM₁₀) is a well-established health hazard. There is increasing evidence that geogenic (Earth-derived) particles can induce adverse biological effects upon inhalation, though there is high variability in particle bioreactivity that is associated with particle source and physicochemical properties. In this study, we investigated physicochemical properties and biological reactivity of volcanic ash from the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière volcano, St. Vincent, and two desert dust samples: a standardized test dust from Arizona and an aeolian Gobi Desert dust sampled in China. We determined particle size, morphology, mineralogy, surface texture and chemistry in sub-10 μm material to investigate associations between particle physicochemical properties and observed bioreactivity. We assessed cellular responses (cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory effects) to acute particle exposures (24 hr) in monocultures at the air-liquid interface using two types of cells of the human airways: BEAS-2B bronchial epithelial cells and A549 alveolar type II epithelial cells. In acellular assays, we also assessed particle oxidative potential and the presence of microorganisms. The results showed that volcanic ash and desert dust exhibit intrinsically different particle morphology, surface textures and chemistry, and variable mineralogical content. We found that Gobi Desert dust is more bioreactive than freshly erupted volcanic ash and Arizona test dust, which is possibly linked to the presence of microorganisms (bacteria) and/or nanoscale elongated silicate minerals (potentially clay such as illite or vermiculite) on particle surfaces.

Cognitive impairment and dementia have long been recognized as growing public health threats. Studies have found that air pollution is a potential risk factor for dementia, but the literature remains inconclusive. This study aimed to evaluate the association between three major air pollutants (i.e., PM_2.5, O₃, and NO₂) and cognitive impairment among the Chinese elderly population. Study participants were selected from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS) after 2005. We define cognitive impairment as a Chinese Mini-Mental-State Exam (CMMSE) score <24. The associations of air pollution with cognitive impairment and CMMSE score were evaluated with a logistic regression model and a linear mixed-effect model with random intercepts, respectively. A total of 3,887 participants were enrolled in this study. Of the 2,882 participants who completed at least one follow-up visit, 931 eventually developed cognitive impairment. In single-pollutant models, we found that yearly average PM_2.5 and NO₂ as well as warm season O₃, were positively associated with cognitive impairment. NO₂ remained positively associated with cognitive impairment in the multi-pollutant model. The linear mixed-effect models revealed that warm season O₃ and yearly average NO₂ were significantly associated with decreased CMMSE scores. Our research has established a positive association between cognitive impairment and air pollution in China. These findings underscore the imperative for the next iteration of China's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan to broaden its focus to encompass gaseous air pollutants since mitigating single air pollutant is insufficient to protect the aging population.

The built and natural environment can facilitate (un)healthy behaviors in adolescence. However, most previous studies have focused on examining associations between singular aspects of the environment. This study examined the association between the mixture of health-promoting and health-constraining environmental features in a Healthy Location Index (HLI) and physical activity and screen time among adolescents. This cross-sectional study used data from the Built Environment and Active Transport to School (BEATS) Research Program based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Data from 1,162 adolescents with complete demographic, health behavior and spatial records were included in the analysis. The environment was defined using the HLI based on access to health-promoting (e.g., greenspace, blue space, physical activity facility) and health-constraining (e.g., fast-food outlets) features and their mixture. Quantile g-computation and multilevel mixed effects models, with adolescents nested within schools, examined associations between the environment and the two health behaviors. A positive association existed between meeting physical activity guidelines and access to health-promoting environments (OR = 1.23 [95% CI 1.03; 1.47]), particularly blue space. In addition, the mixture of health-promoting and health-constraining environments was also important (ψ = 1.18 [1.01; 1.37]). However, there was limited evidence of an association between the environment and screen time. We provide evidence of a relationship between health-promoting environments, the mix of health-promoting and health-constraining environments, and physical activity among adolescents. The findings support the hypothesis that the environment has the potential to positively influence healthy behaviors of youth, particularly when it comes to physical activity.

Heatwaves pose a range of severe impacts on human health, including an increase in premature mortality. The summers of 2018 and 2022 are two examples with record-breaking temperatures leading to thousands of heat-related excess deaths in Europe. Some of the extreme temperatures experienced during these summers were predictable several weeks in advance by subseasonal forecasts. Subseasonal forecasts provide weather predictions from 2 weeks to 2 months ahead, offering advance planning capabilities. Nevertheless, there is only limited assessment of the potential for heat-health warning systems at a regional level on subseasonal timescales. Here we combine methods of climate epidemiology and subseasonal forecasts to retrospectively predict the 2018 and 2022 heat-related mortality for the cantons of Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland. The temperature-mortality association for these cantons is estimated using observed daily temperature and mortality during summers between 1990 and 2017. The temperature-mortality association is subsequently combined with bias-corrected subseasonal forecasts at a spatial resolution of 2-km to predict the daily heat-related mortality counts of 2018 and 2022. The mortality predictions are compared against the daily heat-related mortality estimated based on observed temperature during these two summers. Heat-related mortality peaks occurring for a few days can be accurately predicted up to 2 weeks ahead, while longer periods of heat-related mortality lasting a few weeks can be anticipated 3 to even 4 weeks ahead. Our findings demonstrate that subseasonal forecasts are a valuable-but yet untapped-tool for potentially issuing warnings for the excess health burden observed during central European summers.

This commentary presents the American Geophysical Union's GeoHealth section statement in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The GeoHealth section is an open community that represents diverse backgrounds in the geophysical, biological, and public health sciences that share a passion for research at the nexus of Earth and health sciences. The GeoHealth section will aim to advance our understanding of the interactions between the environment, human health, and well-being while supporting DEI topics. The GeoHealth Section will ensure a strong and sustained focus on different DEI-related issues by performing different activities presented in this commentary.

The urban environment impacts residents' health and well-being in many ways. Environmental benefits and risks may be interactively and inequitably distributed across different populations in cities, and these patterns may change over time. Here, we assess the spatial distribution of environmental risks and benefits in pairs, considering synergies and trade-offs, in an illustrative metropolitan area (Metro Vancouver) in Canada in the years 2006 and 2016. We classify census dissemination areas as sweet, sour, risky, or medium spots based on relative exposures for six environmental combinations: Walkability and NO₂; heat stress and NO₂; vegetation coverage and NO₂; vegetation coverage and heat stress; walkability and accessibility to natural recreational areas; and heat stress and accessibility to natural recreational areas. We evaluate whether different population groups are disproportionately exposed to lower environmental quality based on linear regressions and other metrics. We find that while performance for individual environmental variables improved over the decade, considering their combinations, sweet spots became sweeter and sour spots became sourer. Residents with high material and social deprivation and visible minorities were disproportionately exposed to lower environmental quality in both years for most of the environmental combinations. Further, we find that these inequities were not improving over time for all groups: for instance, South Asian residents in the region faced higher disproportionate burdens or diminished access to benefits in 2016, as compared to 2006. Given these findings, we suggest considerations of cumulative exposure in prioritizing areas for intervention, targeting the sour and risky spots persistently experienced by overburdened populations.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) apply massive amounts of untreated waste to nearby farmlands, with severe environmental health impacts of swine CAFOs and proximity to disadvantaged communities well documented in some US regions. Most studies documenting the impacts of CAFOs rely almost exclusively on CAFO locations known from incomplete public records. Poultry CAFOs generate dry waste and operate without federal permits; thus, their environmental justice (EJ) impacts are undocumented. North Carolina (NC), a leading poultry producer, has seen a significant increase in poultry CAFOs, particularly since the 1997 swine CAFO moratorium. Using literature-derived heuristics, this study refined the locations of poultry CAFOs derived based on Earth Observation (EO) data and deep learning, reducing the overestimation of poultry CAFO density by 54% after heuristic adjustments. We removed 51.8% of misclassified features in NC and 61.5% across the US, significantly improving data set accuracy. Spatial analysis, including Local Indicators of Spatial Association, revealed that poultry CAFOs often cluster in census tracts with high Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) scores, indicating potential EJ issues. Notably, one-third of NC's census tracts with high poultry CAFO density also have high SVI, primarily in rural eastern regions. Similar patterns were observed in the South and Southeast of the US. However, not all high-density CAFO areas correspond with high SVI, suggesting a complex relationship between CAFO locations and community vulnerabilities. This study highlights the critical need for comprehensive, high-quality data on unpermitted poultry CAFOs derived using AI algorithms to fully understand their impacts on communities and accurately inform EJ evaluations.

This study investigates the impact of surface temperature anomalies on the health of residents within the River Niger Basin Development Authority (RIBDA) enclave, which covers Nigeria, Niger, and Mali in West Africa, with a focus on the regional implications for public health. Historical climate data from 1985 to 2014, sourced from the Climatic Research Unit Time-Series, Version 3.22 (CRU TS 3.22), was analyzed to comprehend past climate patterns and establish a baseline for future comparisons. Predictions for future climate conditions (2015–2044) were derived by adjusting the CRU data using temperature projections from the Community Climate System Model 4 under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario. To assess the potential impacts of these climate changes, particularly during the boreal summer season of July-August-September (JAS), the study utilized the Hydrology, Entomology, and Malaria Transmission Simulator (HYDREMATS). Findings indicate that surface temperature can intricately influence disease transmission, with varied effects on parameters such as Ro, EIR, prevalence, and immunity index. Observations revealed fluctuations in temperature anomalies over the years, with negative anomalies in 1991–1995 and positive anomalies in subsequent years. Although precise predictions for 2016–2044 are challenging based solely on data trends from 1985 to 2015, continued temperature rises could potentially lead to increased disease prevalence and decreased immunity index. Moreover, the analysis identified a notable temporal increase in mean annual temperature and mean annual maximum temperature from 1999 to 2020, suggesting a faster warming trend in maximum temperatures compared to minimum temperatures. This increase in temperature variability may alter the onset and cessation dates of the rainy season, affecting water availability, accessibility, and consumption, consequently fostering conditions conducive to health-related diseases. By incorporating predicted long-term temperature changes due to greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining current inter-annual climate patterns, this approach allows researchers to anticipate potential future health implications in the studied regions.

During the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, stay-at-home policies such as New York's (NY) NY on Pause dramatically reduced traffic congestion. Despite high traffic burden in NY's environmental justice communities, this reduction has not been evaluated through an environmental justice lens—our objective in this analysis. We obtained census tract-level traffic congestion data from Google traffic maps hourly for 2018–2020. We defined congestion as the percent of streets in a census tract with heavy traffic (red- or maroon-color). We used the Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) to measure racialized economic segregation and the CDC's Environmental Justice Index (EJI) as a measure of combined environmental, social, and chronic disease burden. We divided census tracts into quintiles of ICE and EJI and used linear mixed models stratified by ICE and EJI quintile in an interrupted time series design. Prior to NY on Pause, less marginalized and burdened census tracts (Q5) tended to have higher levels of traffic congestion; during NY on Pause, this trend reversed. For both ICE and EJI, more marginalized and burdened (Q1–Q2 vs. Q4–Q5) tracts had smaller absolute decreases in percent traffic congestion. For example, percent traffic congestion in ICE Q5 decreased by 7.8% (% change: −36.6%), but in Q1, it decreased by 4.2% (% change: −51.7%). NY on Pause, while protecting residents during COVID-19, may have resulted in inequitable reductions in traffic congestion. It is critical that such inequities are measured and acknowledged so that future policies to reduce traffic congestion and respond to pandemics can enhance equity.