Human Bioclimate and Thermal Stress in the Megacity of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Application and Evaluation of Thermophysiological Indices

Abstract

Human bioclimate refers to the entirety of all climatological and meteorological parameters affecting the living organism. The relevance of climate and weather for human health was already recognized by Hippocrates (Hippocrates Reprint). Later, Alexander von Humboldt defined climate as changes of the atmosphere affecting the human organism, thus putting human bioclimatological aspects in focus (von Humboldt 2004) Energy released or absorbed by change of the aggregate state of water. Since then, numerous studies have been published focusing on the atmosphere-health relationship describing seasonal variations and non-linear relationships between multiple disease (e.g. cardio-respiratory, infectious) and temperature (Burkart and Endlicher 2009; Kunst et al. 1993; Braga et al. 2001; Braga et al. 2002; Basu and Samet 2002).