In the record-breaking warm June of 2023, nearly 900 more people died in the Netherlands than usual. The heat coincided with exceptionally high grass pollen concentrations and poor air quality, which may have contributed to the unusually high mortality rate. Health problems were not limited to the Netherlands: the extreme heat in 2023 is estimated to have claimed the lives of 47,000 Europeans. With ongoing climate change, such health risks are expected to increase further.
Dealing with heat stress
There is still much uncertainty about which situations pose the greatest danger and who is at the highest risk of illness or death now and in the future. It is also unclear which actions should be taken and how to avoid solving one problem while worsening another. For instance, advice to reduce heat stress by ventilating could increase exposure to pollen and poor air quality.
GoHot
Over the next 19 months, a consortium of 16 organisations will map knowledge about health risks related to exposure to heat, pollen, air pollution, and their combinations. This knowledge will be translated into practical tools to help reduce the disease burden. The project, titled ‘Gezond Omgaan met Hitte en pOllen in een veranderend klimaaT’ (GoHot), is funded by ZonMw. Biologist Arnold van Vliet from Wageningen University leads the research project. Thermophysiologist Hein Daanen from VU Amsterdam is the project applicant, and biologist Letty de Weger from Leiden University Medical Center is the co-project leader. GoHot builds on the foundation of the first ZonMw Climate and Health programme.
"We have been able to bring together leading knowledge carriers and practitioners in the field of climate and health in the Netherlands and maintain close contacts with our international colleagues," Daanen explains about the development of the research project.
About GoHot
The consortium focuses on effectively communicating knowledge about health risks from heat stress, air quality, and pollen in a changing climate. It involves not only research organisations but also policymakers and societal partners to achieve meaningful impact.
GoHot is highly multidisciplinary, uniting experts from fields such as epidemiology, physiology, environmental ecology, aerobiology, spatial modelling, arboriculture, sociology, psychology, communication science, and ethics.
The research will use new techniques to analyse existing data on mortality, hospital admissions, medication use, pollen concentrations, and environmental factors. The goal is to identify which groups in society are most at risk of illness or death under specific exposure conditions to heat, pollen, air pollution, or combinations of these factors. Special attention will also be given to young children.
Preventing risks
How can health risks be prevented? What works, and what doesn’t? Through literature research and experiments, the project will determine the effectiveness of various cooling strategies. Examples include the effects of foot baths, wearing cooling clothing, eating ice, using air conditioning, or planting trees.
Could it also be beneficial to improve physical fitness, making individuals better equipped to handle heat? What is the impact of ventilating by opening windows? Open windows may increase indoor pollen concentrations, so the project will test the effect of open versus closed windows on indoor pollen levels.
Behavioural change
Even with knowledge about who is at risk, when, and where, and what can be done to mitigate this, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people or organisations will change their behaviour. The research aims to uncover the factors that influence behavioural change. A significant part of the project focuses on how organisations such as public health services (GGD), the Red Cross, knowledge institutes, and governments can communicate clearly and effectively with at-risk groups and those around them.
The GoHot consortium brings together a broad range of organisations with different roles to immediately apply insights and achieve maximum impact.