Heat waves and adaptation strategies in a mediterranean urban context.

Background: Heat waves can be considered as an emerging challenge among the potential health risks generated by urbanization and climate changes. Heat waves are becoming more frequent, long and intense, and can be defined as meteorological extreme events consisting in prolonged time of extremely high temperatures in a particular region. The following paper addresses health threats due to heat waves presenting the case study of Lecce, a city located in Southern Italy; the Mediterranean area is already recognized in international literature as a hot-spot for climate changes.

Water Quality Assessment: A Quali-Quantitative Method for Evaluation of Environmental Pressures Potentially Impacting on Groundwater, Developed under the M.I.N.O.Re. Project.

At global level, the vulnerability of aquifers is deteriorating at an alarming rate due to environmental pollution and intensive human activities. In this context, Local Health Authority ASL Lecce has launched the M.I.

Air Pollution and Estimated Health Costs Related to Road Transportations of Goods in Italy: A First Healthcare Burden Assessment.

: The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine has performed a preliminary assessment of the health impact attributable to road freight traffic in Italy. : We estimated fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated by road transportation of goods in Italy considering the number of trucks, the emission factors and the average annual distance covered in the year 2016.