The Impact of Temperature on Mortality …
13
(2003) reported that higher temperatures in Buenos Aires city, through its impact on
the relative strain index, explain almost 10% of summertime mortality.
Our study has several limitations. First, the available population data did not allow
constructing separate mortality rates for infants, i.e., younger than one year old, which
are far more susceptible to thermal stress than other young children, as previously
mentioned. Therefore, our results of no statistical significant influence of extreme
temperatures on children’s mortality rates have to be taken with caution. The second
limitation is that mortality is obviously an extreme outcome, and thus underestimates
the overall effect of extreme temperatures on human health. Unfortunately, there
is no detailed countrywide medical database available to estimate both mortality
and morbidity impacts. Another possible source of underestimation comes from
the adoption of precautionary measures, particularly air conditioning, which have a
protective effect during extreme temperatures (Barreca et al. 2016).
Another limitation concerns the use of weather data from meteorological stations.
Given the sparse distribution of the station network, interpolation of weather parameters from distant stations might have introduced measurement error. To limit the
chance of this type of error, we follow the convention of excluding weather station
further than 100 km away from each municipal geographical center. Satellites might
provide better weather information, at least in terms of spatial coverage (Kloog et al.
2014), but we leave this to future research. Also, we did not have access to information about mortality by cause. Therefore, the impacts of temperature on the overall
mortality rate should understate the true impacts.
Having pointed out the potential short comes of this research, we believe this study
provides valuable information on weather determinants of mortality in Argentina.
The estimation approach employed in this papers allows to disentangle the causal
effect of temperatures on mortality risk while controlling for possible confounders,
reducing the possibility that the observed temperature–mortality link was driven by
omitted factors associated with both weather and mortality.
To conclude, two main contributions of the paper are worth mentioning. Firstly,
we produce the first countrywide and geographical comparable estimates of the
temperature–mortality relationship in a sizable portion of the population. Second, we
use repeated cross-sectional data instead of the more traditional time series approach
used in previous empirical papers. This approach might help overcome the problem
of relatively short time series usually observed in Argentinian data.
References
Almeira G, Rusticucci M, Suaya M (2016) Relationship between mortality and extreme temperatures
in Buenos Aires and Rosario. Meteorologica 41(2):65–79
Amarillo AC, Carreras HA (2012) The effect of airborne particles and weather conditions on
pediatric respiratory infections in Cordoba, Argentina. Environ Pollut 170:217–221
Baccini M, Biggeri A, Accetta G, Kosatsky T, Katsouyanni K, Analitis A et al (2008) Heat effects
on mortality in 15 European cities. Epidemiology 19(5):711–719
13
(2003) reported that higher temperatures in Buenos Aires city, through its impact on
the relative strain index, explain almost 10% of summertime mortality.
Our study has several limitations. First, the available population data did not allow
constructing separate mortality rates for infants, i.e., younger than one year old, which
are far more susceptible to thermal stress than other young children, as previously
mentioned. Therefore, our results of no statistical significant influence of extreme
temperatures on children’s mortality rates have to be taken with caution. The second
limitation is that mortality is obviously an extreme outcome, and thus underestimates
the overall effect of extreme temperatures on human health. Unfortunately, there
is no detailed countrywide medical database available to estimate both mortality
and morbidity impacts. Another possible source of underestimation comes from
the adoption of precautionary measures, particularly air conditioning, which have a
protective effect during extreme temperatures (Barreca et al. 2016).
Another limitation concerns the use of weather data from meteorological stations.
Given the sparse distribution of the station network, interpolation of weather parameters from distant stations might have introduced measurement error. To limit the
chance of this type of error, we follow the convention of excluding weather station
further than 100 km away from each municipal geographical center. Satellites might
provide better weather information, at least in terms of spatial coverage (Kloog et al.
2014), but we leave this to future research. Also, we did not have access to information about mortality by cause. Therefore, the impacts of temperature on the overall
mortality rate should understate the true impacts.
Having pointed out the potential short comes of this research, we believe this study
provides valuable information on weather determinants of mortality in Argentina.
The estimation approach employed in this papers allows to disentangle the causal
effect of temperatures on mortality risk while controlling for possible confounders,
reducing the possibility that the observed temperature–mortality link was driven by
omitted factors associated with both weather and mortality.
To conclude, two main contributions of the paper are worth mentioning. Firstly,
we produce the first countrywide and geographical comparable estimates of the
temperature–mortality relationship in a sizable portion of the population. Second, we
use repeated cross-sectional data instead of the more traditional time series approach
used in previous empirical papers. This approach might help overcome the problem
of relatively short time series usually observed in Argentinian data.
References
Almeira G, Rusticucci M, Suaya M (2016) Relationship between mortality and extreme temperatures
in Buenos Aires and Rosario. Meteorologica 41(2):65–79
Amarillo AC, Carreras HA (2012) The effect of airborne particles and weather conditions on
pediatric respiratory infections in Cordoba, Argentina. Environ Pollut 170:217–221
Baccini M, Biggeri A, Accetta G, Kosatsky T, Katsouyanni K, Analitis A et al (2008) Heat effects
on mortality in 15 European cities. Epidemiology 19(5):711–719