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Weather, Climate, and Society (Print) Jul 2023Climate change is expected to impact individuals' recreational choices, as changing temperatures and precipitation patterns influence participation in outdoor recreation...
Climate change is expected to impact individuals' recreational choices, as changing temperatures and precipitation patterns influence participation in outdoor recreation and alternative activities. This paper empirically investigates the relationship between weather and outdoor recreation using nationally representative data from the contiguous United States. We find that across most outdoor recreational activities, participation is lowest on the coldest days (<35 degrees Fahrenheit) and highest at moderately high temperatures (80 to 90 degrees). Notable exceptions to this trend include water sports and snow and ice sports, for which participation peaks at the highest and lowest temperatures, respectively. If individuals continue to respond to temperature changes the same way that they have in the recent past, in a future climate that has fewer cool days and more moderate and hot days, our model anticipates net participation across all outdoor recreation activities will increase by 88 million trips annually at 1 degree Celsius of warming (CONUS) and up to 401 million trips at 6 degrees of warming, valued between $3.2 billion and $15.6 billion in consumer surplus annually (2010 population). The increase in trips is driven by participation in water sports; excluding water sports from future projections decreases the consumer surplus gains by approximately 75 percent across all modeled degrees of warming. If individuals in northern regions respond to temperature like people in southern regions currently do (a proxy for adaptation), total outdoor recreation trips will increase by an additional 17 percent compared to no adaptation at 6 degrees of warming. This benefit is generally not seen at lower degrees of warming.
PubMed: 37415774
DOI: 10.1175/wcas-d-22-0060.1 -
Cureus Nov 2023A heat stroke (HS) is a medical emergency that can occur when the body is unable to cool itself down after overexertion in a hot condition. It is characterized by a high...
A heat stroke (HS) is a medical emergency that can occur when the body is unable to cool itself down after overexertion in a hot condition. It is characterized by a high body temperature (usually greater than 40.5 degrees Celsius or 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit) and altered mental status. HS can cause a wide range of physiological changes in the body, including damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, and muscles. In the case report presented, the patient was a 40-year-old man who developed severe HS. His condition rapidly deteriorated, and he developed multi-organ failure, involving the brain, liver, kidneys, muscles, and hematological system. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and intubated, despite aggressive treatment. After an 18-day stay in the ICU, the patient achieved full recovery except for myopathy, which necessitated physiotherapy.
PubMed: 38111401
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.48984 -
Cureus May 2024subspecies () is a zoonotic pathogen that primarily infects horses, pigs, and dogs. Although rare, it has also been shown to infect humans who consume unpasteurized...
subspecies () is a zoonotic pathogen that primarily infects horses, pigs, and dogs. Although rare, it has also been shown to infect humans who consume unpasteurized dairy food or have direct contact with horses. Here, we present a case of bacteremia in a patient without a clear mode of transmission. An 86-year-old male with a past medical history of coronary artery disease, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, complete heart block status post pacemaker, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus presented to the Emergency Department with fever and chills. He had fevers and rigors for three days but denied weight loss, cough, sore throat, or rashes. In the Emergency Department, vital signs revealed a fever of 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit and a heart rate of 110 with other stable vital signs. The physical exam was unremarkable except for tachycardia, and laboratory work revealed no leukocytosis but elevated inflammatory markers and elevated lactate. Computed tomography of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis did not reveal any source of infection. Blood cultures grew and the Infectious Diseases team was consulted, who started the patient on Penicillin G. Due to concern for pacer-lead infective endocarditis, transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms were performed, which did not show valvular vegetations. Repeat blood cultures showed clearance of the infection, and the patient was ultimately discharged on amoxicillin. While our patient denied consuming unpasteurized dairy products or having direct contact with horses, upon further questioning, he did endorse family members who occasionally interacted with horses. This case is valuable as it adds to the sparse literature on infections specifically in humans. Extensive history taking is of utmost importance when a clear source of infection is not easily identifiable. Further research is also needed to better understand the various modes of transmission of this bacterium to better target and caution those at an increased risk of infection.
PubMed: 38854287
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.59911