Quantifying health-related climate metrics of extreme temperature disasters: An international analysis over five decades

Understanding the relationship between extreme temperature events and health outcomes necessitates integration of hazard and impact data. International databases of societal impacts from disasters serve as an important data source for empirical cross-country analyses. Yet, detailed and precise estimations of the hazard magnitude of these impact records are often lacking. Physical metrics play a pivotal role in, for instance, statistical analyses and exposure assessments.

In bridging this gap, our work leverages recent advancements in geocoding of disaster records alongside high-resolution meteorological datasets to construct an inventory of a diverse range of health-related climate metrics. Our global analysis spans over 200 records of extreme temperature disasters from the past fifty years. By doing so, we unveil insights into the properties of these disastrous heat- and cold-waves. We furthermore explore differences across space, time, metrics, and data sources. This work highlights the potential of utilizing this integrated approach to extract meaningful information from historical disaster records in global databases, aiding climate resilience and public health strategies.