Changes in bioclimatic conditions in Nuuk (SW Greenland) in the years 1874–2020
- 1Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Torun, Poland (andy@umk.pl)
- 2Centre for Climate Change Research, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland (cccr@umk.pl)
Human biometeorology as a discipline of applied climatology is important in various spheres of human activity (from everyday life to natural environmental protection, tourism and recreation, spatial organisation and others). In polar areas, e.g. in the Arctic, the thermal load on the human body caused by the environment is an important indicator of climatic discomfort, where extreme cold is recorded often combined with strong winds.
The aim of this study is to present changes in bioclimatic conditions over the last ~150 years in south-west Greenland. This is an attempt to estimate, for the first time, the conditions experienced by humans in the Arctic over such a long time horizon, i.e. from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century.
The study for the Nuuk station used meteorological data (air temperature and wind speed) from the Danish Meteorological Yearbooks (Meteorologisk Aarbog) from the period 1874–1957. Modern (1958–2020) meteorological data for Nuuk (station no. 4250) are taken from the collection of the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) from report No. 21-08 archived at https://www.dmi.dk/publikationer/. Data are stored in two different formats for the particular periods 1958–2013 and 2014–20 (for more details, see Cappelen 2021).
The study analysed two biometeorological indexes: wind chill temperature (WCT) and predicted clothing insulation (Iclp). Apparent cold and extent of frostbite risk to the human body were assessed using the WCT. On the other hand, the thermal insulation of clothing required for a person to maintain thermal equilibrium in a given set of meteorological conditions was estimated using the Iclp index. Both biometeorological indices were calculated using BioKlima 2.6 software (https://www.igipz.pan.pl/bioklima-crd.html).
The work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, project No. 2020/39/B/ST10/00653.
References:
Cappelen J. 2021. Weather observations from Greenland 1958–2020, DMI Report 21–08, https://www.dmi.dk/fileadmin/Rapporter/2021/DMIRep21-08.pdf
Meteorologisk Aarbog. 1874–1957. Det Danske Meteorologiske Institut, Kjøbenhavn
How to cite: Araźny, A., Chmist, K., Przybylak, R., Wyszyński, P., and Singh, G.: Changes in bioclimatic conditions in Nuuk (SW Greenland) in the years 1874–2020, EMS Annual Meeting 2024, Barcelona, Spain, 1–6 Sep 2024, EMS2024-314, https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2024-314, 2024.
