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Assessment of Health Related Impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Douala Metropolis, Cameroon

Received: 19 November 2013     Published: 28 February 2014
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Abstract

Urban heat island (UHI) has the potential to directly influence the health and welfare of urban residents. This study assessed the health related impacts of urban heat island in Douala Metropolis in Cameroon. Two land-use classes (resident and commercial) and two land-cover types (paved and green surfaces) were used for the selection of the sample sites using purposive sampling technique. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as multiple and simple bar charts, tables, graphs, central tendency, running mean and spearman’s rank correlation. The result revealed that the people of Douala are always in discomfort the climate usually in the form of heat stress, stroke, crumps, exhaustion, fatigue, headache, nausea, fainting and even death. The result equally showed a strong relationship between the land-use/cover and heat related symptoms.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15
Page(s) 35-40
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Heat Island, Urban, Impacts, Douala, Land Cover, Land Use

References
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[2] Buechley, R.W, Van Bruggen, J. and Trippi, L. E (1972): "Heat Island = Death Island?" Environmental Research, 5: 85 – 92.
[3] Changnon, S.A Kunkel, K.E and Reinke, B. C (1996): "Impacts and Responses to the 1995 Heat Wave: A call to Action". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77:1497 – 1506.
[4] Clarke, J.F (1972): "Some Effects of the urban Structures on Heat Mortality". Environmental Research 5:93 – 104.
[5] DEA 350: "Ambient Environment": Thermal Environment Cornwell University Ergonomies Web, Lecture Note.
[6] Enete, I.C (2009): An Assessment of urban heat island situation and Adaptative measures in Enugu, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT.
[7] Enete, I.C and Okwu, V.U (2013): Mapping Enugu City’s Urban Heat Island. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 1(4):50-58.
[8] Harrison, G. A and Gibson, J.B (1976): Man in Urban Environment s, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9] Lelvis, J.E and Carlson, T.N (1989): " Spatial Variations in Regional Surface Energy Exchange Patterns for Montreal, Quebec", The Canadian Geographer, 33: 194 – 203.
[10] Oke, T.R (1982): The Energetic Basis of Urban Heat Island. Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 108 (455): 1 – 24.
[11] Oke, T.R (1987): Boundary Layer Climates 2nd edition, London: Methuen and Co, p435.
[12] Shashua-Bar, L and Hoffman, M.E (2000): Vegetation as a Climatic Component in the Design of an Urban Street; An Empirical model for predicting the cool Effect of Urban Green Areas with Trees. Energy and Building, 31 (3): 221 – 235.
[13] Sukopp, H. and Werner, P. (1982): Nature in Cities. Nature and Environment Series No. 28, Strasbeurg, Council of Europe Publication.
[14] Taha, H. (1997): Urban Climates and Heat Islands: Albedo, Evapotranspiration, and Anthropogenic heat. Energy and Buildings, 25 (2): 99 – 103.
[15] Unger, J, Siimeghy and Zoboki, J.(2001): Temperature Cross-section Features in an Urban Area. Atmosperic Research, 58 (2): 117 – 127.
[16] Voogt, J.A (2004): Urban Heat Islands: Hotter Cities. America Institute of Biological Sciences.
[17] World Meteorological Organization (1984): "Urban Climatology and its Applications with Special Regard to Tropical Areas." Proceedings of the Technical Conference Organized by the WMO, Mexico, 26 – 30 November (WMO – No. 652): 534.
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  • APA Style

    Enete, I. C, Awuh, M. E, Amawa, et al. (2014). Assessment of Health Related Impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Douala Metropolis, Cameroon. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 2(1), 35-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15

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    ACS Style

    Enete; I. C; Awuh; M. E; Amawa, et al. Assessment of Health Related Impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Douala Metropolis, Cameroon. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2014, 2(1), 35-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15

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    AMA Style

    Enete, I. C, Awuh, M. E, Amawa, et al. Assessment of Health Related Impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Douala Metropolis, Cameroon. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2014;2(1):35-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15,
      author = {Enete and I. C and Awuh and M. E and Amawa and S},
      title = {Assessment of Health Related Impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Douala Metropolis, Cameroon},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {2},
      number = {1},
      pages = {35-40},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20140201.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20140201.15},
      abstract = {Urban heat island (UHI) has the potential to directly influence the health and welfare of urban residents. This study assessed the health related impacts of urban heat island in Douala Metropolis in Cameroon. Two land-use classes (resident and commercial) and two land-cover types (paved and green surfaces) were used for the selection of the sample sites using purposive sampling technique. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as multiple and simple bar charts, tables, graphs, central tendency, running mean and spearman’s rank correlation. The result revealed that the people of Douala are always in discomfort the climate usually in the form of heat stress, stroke, crumps, exhaustion, fatigue, headache, nausea, fainting and even death. The result equally showed a strong relationship between the land-use/cover and heat related symptoms.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - Urban heat island (UHI) has the potential to directly influence the health and welfare of urban residents. This study assessed the health related impacts of urban heat island in Douala Metropolis in Cameroon. Two land-use classes (resident and commercial) and two land-cover types (paved and green surfaces) were used for the selection of the sample sites using purposive sampling technique. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as multiple and simple bar charts, tables, graphs, central tendency, running mean and spearman’s rank correlation. The result revealed that the people of Douala are always in discomfort the climate usually in the form of heat stress, stroke, crumps, exhaustion, fatigue, headache, nausea, fainting and even death. The result equally showed a strong relationship between the land-use/cover and heat related symptoms.
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