Circadian analysis of large human populations: Inferences from the power grid

Stowie, Adam; Amicarelli, Mario; Crosier, Caitlin; Mymko, Ryan; Glass, John D.

doi:10.3109/07420528.2014.965316

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 34 publications

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“…For indoor work, we assumed air conditioning as an adaptation to climate change, which increases energy demand (Waite et al, 2017) and possibly causes additional CO 2 emissions. Shifted activity patterns can change diurnal energy demand variation (Stowie et al, 2015;Torriti et al, 2015) and eventually energy demand-supply balance. In particular, if large-scale renewable energies, such as photovoltaic generation, which has a diurnal variation in its output, are deployed in the power grid, the diurnal energy demand variation becomes more important.…”

Section: 1029/2018ef000883mentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited Role of Working Time Shift in Offsetting the Increasing Occupational‐Health Cost of Heat Exposure

et al. 2018

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Climate change increases workers' exposure to heat stress. To prevent heat-related illnesses, according to occupational-health recommendations, labor capacity must be reduced. However, this preventive measure is expected to be costly, and the costs are likely to rise as the scale and scope of climate change impacts increase over time. Shifting the start of the working day to earlier in the morning could be an effective adaptation measure for avoiding the impacts of labor capacity reduction. However, the plausibility and efficacy of such an intervention have never been quantitatively assessed. Here we investigate whether working time shifts can offset the economic impacts of labor capacity reduction due to climate change. Incorporating a temporally (1 hr) and spatially (0.5°× 0.5°) high-resolution heat exposure index into an integrated assessment model, we calculated the working time shift necessary to offset labor capacity reduction and economic loss under hypothetical with-and without-realistic-adaptation scenarios. The results of a normative scenario analysis indicated that a global average shift of 5.7 (4.0-6.1) hours is required, assuming extreme climate conditions in the 2090s. Although a realistic (<3 hr) shift nearly halves the economic cost, a substantial cost corresponding to 1.6% (1.0-2.4%) of global total gross domestic product is expected to remain. In contrast, if stringent climate-change mitigation is achieved, a realistic shift limits the remaining cost to 0.14% (0.12-0.47%) of global total gross domestic product. Although shifting working time is shown to be effective as an adaptation measure, climate-change mitigation remains indispensable to minimize the impact.Plain Language Summary Outdoor workers are exposed to excessive heat stress particularly in hot seasons and its impact is expected to increase as a result of climate change. This will reduce the capability of labor and eventually cause economic loss. Shifting working time to earlier morning, when it is cooler than during midday, can be an effective way to reduce the effect of heat stress. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness and plausibility of a working time shift as an adaptation measure to climate change. Although a working time shift was shown to be effective to reduce the effect of heat stress, the required amount of shift was beyond the realistic range unless stringent climate-change mitigation was achieved. If society tries to avoid the economic impacts of climate change on outdoor labor only by working time shifts, outdoor workers in many regions will need to start working well before dawn. Climate-change mitigation and other adaptation measures (e.g., mechanization of work, body cooling, etc.) are also inevitable to minimize the impact of climate change.

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Section: 1029/2018ef000883mentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited Role of Working Time Shift in Offsetting the Increasing Occupational‐Health Cost of Heat Exposure

et al. 2018

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Seven-day human biological rhythms: An expedition in search of their origin, synchronization, functional advantage, adaptive value and clinical relevance

Reinberg

Dejardin

Smolensky

et al. 2016

Chronobiology International

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This fact-finding expedition explores the perspectives and knowledge of the origin and functional relevance of the 7 d domain of the biological time structure, with special reference to human beings. These biological rhythms are displayed at various levels of organization in diverse species - from the unicellular sea algae of Acetabularia and Goniaulax to plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, including man - under natural as well as artificial, i.e. constant, environmental conditions. Nonetheless, very little is known about their derivation, functional advantage, adaptive value, synchronization and potential clinical relevance. About 7 d cosmic cycles are seemingly too weak, and the 6 d work/1 d rest week commanded from G-d through the Laws of Mosses to the Hebrews is too recent an event to be the origin in humans. Moreover, human and insect studies conducted under controlled constant conditions devoid of environmental, social and other time cues report the persistence of 7 d rhythms, but with a slightly different (free-running) period (τ), indicating their source is endogenous. Yet, a series of human and laboratory rodent studies reveal certain mainly non-cyclic exogenous events can trigger 7 d rhythm-like phenomena. However, it is unknown whether such triggers unmask, amplify and/or synchronize previous non-overtly expressed oscillations. Circadian (~24 h), circa-monthly (~30 d) and circannual (~1 y) rhythms are viewed as genetically based features of life forms that during evolution conferred significant functional advantage to individual organisms and survival value to species. No such advantages are apparent for endogenous 7 d rhythms, raising several questions: What is the significance of the 7 d activity/rest cycle, i.e. week, storied in the Book of Genesis and adopted by the Hebrews and thereafter the residents of nearby Mediterranean countries and ultimately the world? Why do humans require 1 d off per 7 d span? Do 7 d rhythms bestow functional advantage to organisms? Is the magic ascribed to the number 7 of relevance? We hypothesize the 7 d time structure of human beings is endogenous in origin - a hypothesis that is affirmed by a wide array of evidence - and synchronized by sociocultural factors linked to the Saturday (Hebrews) or Sunday (Christian) holy day of rest. We also hypothesize they are representative, at least in part, of the biological requirement for rest and repair 1 d each 7 d, just as the circadian time structure is representative, in part, of the biological need for rest and repair each 24 h.

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The daily, weekly, and seasonal cycles of body temperature analyzed at large scale

Harding

Pompei

Bordonaro³

et al. 2019

Chronobiology International

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As a check for biases that could be introduced by the use of data from an emergency department, we repeated the study analyses after excluding all temperatures in the fever range (≥38.0°C, ≥100.4°F). The exclusion did not cause bathyphase (hollow points) or orthophase (solid points) to change significantly, though it widened their confidence intervals, especially for orthophase. Bathyphase refers to the time of the minimum value in the diurnal cycle of body temperature. Orthophase refers to the time of the maximum value. Confidence intervals are 95%. The displayed times of night, twilight, and day are the average values that occurred across the years of the study period (total study duration: 30 months). The times of night, twilight, and day shift sharply in middle March and early November because the daylight saving time system is used at the study location (Boston, United States). In the daylight saving time system, clock times are advanced by 1 hour on the second Sunday of March and this change is undone on the first Sunday of November. Consequently, times of sunrise and sunset increase by 1 hour in middle March and decrease by 1 hour in early November.

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Circadian analysis of large human populations: Inferences from the power grid

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Limited Role of Working Time Shift in Offsetting the Increasing Occupational‐Health Cost of Heat Exposure

Limited Role of Working Time Shift in Offsetting the Increasing Occupational‐Health Cost of Heat Exposure

Seven-day human biological rhythms: An expedition in search of their origin, synchronization, functional advantage, adaptive value and clinical relevance

The daily, weekly, and seasonal cycles of body temperature analyzed at large scale

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