1. Kyle Thiem, Jessica Voveris, & Emma Fagan
Heat Waves and Their Impacts on Human Health in Urban Areas of Central Oklahoma
Kyle Thiem, Jessica Voveris, & Emma Fagan
University of Oklahoma, School of Meteorology
Heather Basara
Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma
Department of Geography
Jeffrey Basara
Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma
School of Meteorology

2. Background Heat waves are common occurrences
Especially dangerous within urban environments
Higher air pollutant concentrations
UHI phenomenon
Chicago (1995), Europe (2003), Russia (2010)
Basara et al. 2008

3. Societal Impacts
Increased heat related and pollution related illnesses during extreme heat events
Increased urbanization in the future
Heat waves are projected to increase in frequency, longevity, and intensity
Better mitigation techniques are needed
European Heat Wave of 2003

4. Research Goals
Expand the current knowledge of the relationships between heat waves, urban environments, and human health
Determine which populations are most at risk during extreme heat events within Oklahoma City at a neighborhood scale

5. What We’ve Done Determined our event
July 30 – August 6, 2008
Sorted through and put all of the data from the Micronet and Census Tracts into GIS for further analysis
3 types of data: Demographic, Pollutant, Temperature
Basara et al. 2011

6. Demographic
Decided to use Clusters (defined by statistical similarities of demographic data) to group the Census Tracts (Hall and Basara)
Hall and Basara

7. Pollutant
Studies have shown that as stagnant air over a city due to a heat wave can cause an increse in the amounts of pollutants in the air.
Result: Length of heat wave in this event was too short to see an increase in Ozone or PM data

8. Temperature
Higher temperatures in urban areas apparent (approx. 1-2 C on average), especially at night.
1ºC increase in temperature above a comfortability threshold correlates to a 1-3% increase in mortality.

9. What’s Left To Do
Determine climatological average maximum and minimum temperatures to establish comfortability thresholds
Assign vulnerability levels to each Census Tract based on maximum and minimum temperature, population density, and demographic factors.
Combine risk assessment of all factors in GIS to determine which neighborhoods are considered most at risk in final analysis.

10. Summary
Heat waves are common occurrences, and especially dangerous in urban environments.
Our goal is to determine which populations are most at risk during extreme heat events within Oklahoma City at a neighborhood scale
Determined demographics and temperature exposure to be main risks.
Currently working on last step: defining the vulnerability levels of each census tract.

11. References
Basara, J. B., B. G. Illston, C. A. Fiebrich, P. D. Browder, C. R. Morgan, A. McCombs, J. P. Bostic, R. A. McPherson, A. J. Schroeder, and K. C. Crawford, 2011: The Oklahoma City Micronet. Metr. Appl., 18,
Basara, J. B., H. G. Basara, B. G. Illston, and K. C. Crawford, 2010: The impact of the urban heat island during an intense heat wave in Oklahoma City. Adv. in Metr., 2010, doi: /2010/
Basara, J. B., P. K. Hall Jr., A. J. Schroeder, B. G. Illston, and K. L. Nemunaitis, 2008: Diurnal cycle of the Oklahoma City urban heat island, Jour. of Geophys. Res., 113, doi: /2008JD
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Grumm, R. H., 2011: The central European and Russian heat wave of July-August BAMS, 92, doi: /2011BAMS
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Kovats, R. S., and S. Hajat, 2008: Heat stress and public health: a critical review. Annu. Rev. Public Health, 2008,
Krunkel, K. E., S. A. Changnon, B. C. Reinke, and R. W. Arritt, 1996: The July 1995 heat wave in the Midwest: a climatic perspective and critical weather factors. BAMS, 77,
Luber, G., and M. McGeehin, 2008: Climate change and extreme heat events. Amer. Jour. Prev. Med., 20,
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Reid, C. E., M. S. O’Neill, C. Gronlund, S. J. Brines, D. G. Brown, A. V. Diez-Roux, J. Schwartz, 2009: Mapping Community Determinants of Heat Vulnerability. Environ. Health Pers., doi: /ehp [Available online at