Heat, dust, and people

This fact sheet describes the ADAPTE project, which uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze how extreme weather and air pollution interact to increase health risks and mortality in large Latin American cities.

• The ADAPTE project found that air pollution levels in Mexico, Santiago, and Bogota significantly exceed World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Specifically, fine dust particles (PM10) exceed these standards by 90%, while nitrous oxides (NOx) exceed them by 73%, 38%, and 25% in those three cities respectively.
• Relative risk (RR) for respiratory and cardiovascular mortality varies by city, season, and demographic group. In the warm season, the highest respiratory RR was in Buenos Aires (1.03) and Mexico City (1.00), and the highest cardiovascular RR was in Mexico City and Buenos Aires (1.01). In Bogota, the cold season saw a higher respiratory RR for children (1.20) and a higher cardiovascular RR for the elderly (1.00).
• GIS analysis in Bogota indicates that the distribution of respiratory and cardiovascular mortality does not align with the city's north-south gradient of wealth and education, suggesting that age characteristics and other complex relationships influence risk.
• The project's vulnerability analyses have enabled the development of chemical weather forecasts for Santiago, provided by the Chilean Weather Office, as well as for Bogota and other large South American cities to help municipalities respond to pollution and climate hazards.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2024). Heat, dust, and people. https://iai.int/en/calor-polvo-y-gente/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Heat, dust, and people. 2024. https://iai.int/en/calor-polvo-y-gente/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Heat, dust, and people |date=8 October 2024 |url=https://iai.int/en/calor-polvo-y-gente/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2024heat, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Heat, dust, and people}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://iai.int/en/calor-polvo-y-gente/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }