@Article{BitencourtAlvShiCunSou:2021:ClChIm,
               author = "Bitencourt, Daniel Pires and Alves, Lincoln Muniz and Shibuya, 
                         Elisa Kayo and Cunha, Irlon de {\^A}ngelo da and Souza, Jo{\~a}o 
                         Paulo Estevam de",
          affiliation = "{Jorge Duprat Figueiredo Foundation for Occupational Safety and 
                         Medicine} and {Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} 
                         and {Jorge Duprat Figueiredo Foundation for Occupational Safety 
                         and Medicine} and {Jorge Duprat Figueiredo Foundation for 
                         Occupational Safety and Medicine} and {Instituto Nacional de 
                         Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)}",
                title = "Climate change impacts on heat stress in Brazil—Past, present, and 
                         future implications for occupational heat exposure",
              journal = "International Journal of Climatology",
                 year = "2021",
               volume = "41",
               number = "S1",
                pages = "S2741--S2756",
                month = "Jan.",
             keywords = "climate change, heat stress, occupational health, outdoor 
                         labour.",
             abstract = "Climate change has caused an increased occurrence of heat waves. 
                         As a result of rising temperatures, implications for health and 
                         the environment have been more frequently reported. Outdoor labour 
                         activities deserve special attention, as is the case with 
                         agricultural and construction workers exposed to extreme weather 
                         conditions, including intense heat. This paper presents an 
                         overview of heat stress conditions in Brazil from 1961 to 2010. It 
                         also presents computer-simulated projections of heat stress 
                         conditions up to the late 21st century. The proposed climate 
                         analysis drew on historical weather data obtained from national 
                         weather stations and on reanalysis data, in addition to future 
                         projections with the ETA (regarding the model's unique vertical 
                         coordinate) regional forecast model. The projections took into 
                         consideration two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP)the 
                         4.5 and 8.5 climate scenarios, namely, moderate and high emissions 
                         scenarios, respectively. Heat stress was inferred based on the 
                         wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index. The results of this 
                         climate analysis show that Brazilian outdoor workers have been 
                         exposed to an increasing level of heat stress. These results 
                         suggest that future changes in the regional climate may increase 
                         the probability of heat stress situations in the next decades, 
                         with expectations of WBGT values greater than those observed in 
                         the baseline period (19611990). In terms of spatial distribution, 
                         the Brazilian western and northern regions experienced more 
                         critical heat stress conditions with higher WBGT values. As a 
                         response to the increased frequency trends of hot periods in 
                         tropical areas, urgent measures should be taken to review public 
                         policies in Brazil. Such policies should include actions towards 
                         better working conditions, technological development to improve 
                         outdoor labour activities, and employment legislation reviews to 
                         mitigate heat impacts on occupational health.",
                  doi = "10.1002/joc.6877",
                  url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.6877",
                 issn = "0899-8418",
             language = "en",
           targetfile = "bittencourt_climate.pdf",
        urlaccessdate = "20 maio 2024"
}