ASSESSING THE HARVESTING EFFECT FOLLOWING EXTREME TEMPERATURE-RELATED MORTALITY IN ITALY

Vinod Joseph kannankeril Joseph , University of Bologna

One substantial direct impact of climate change on human health and mortality stems from extreme temperatures and heatwaves. In this study, we explore the phenomenon referred to as the 'harvesting effect,' where exposure to extreme temperatures accelerates the mortality of individuals who are particularly vulnerable and severely ill. We combine mortality data from ISTAT with temperature data from E-OBS for 107 provinces of Italy from 2011 to 2019. Poisson regression models are employed to estimate the effects of between-season and within-season temperature variability on mortality among individuals aged 60 and above. The results for the pooled sample reveal a J-shaped relationship between temperature variation and mortality in Italy. Temperatures exceeding the comfort zone are significantly associated with an increased mortality rate, with a more pronounced effect size observed in the most extreme temperature bins

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P2. Health, Mortality, Ageing - Aperitivo