Milan Trizna

The north atlantic oscillation and winter precipitation totals in Slovakia

Abstract The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is the most important circulation phenomenon in the Northern Atlantic which impacts climate in Europe in various ways. Precipitation is a basic climatic element which affects the landscape significantly. Therefore in this paper, the relationship between the NAO and winter precipitation in Slovakia is analysed. A Spearman’s correlation analysis was used, which detected the impacts of NAO on the above-mentioned seasonal precipitation in different regions of Slovakia. The correlation coefficients obtained positive values in the region of Orava and Kysuce and changed to negative ones in a southward direction. The detected zonal configuration can be explained by the topographic barrier effect of the Carpathians Shrnutí Severoatlantická oscilace (NAO) je nejvýznamnějším cirkulačním jevem na severní polokouli, která ovlivňuje klima Evropy v různých směrech. Srážky jsou základním klimatickým prvkem, který významně ovlivňuje krajinu. Proto je v tomto příspěvku analyzován vztah mezi NAO a zimními úhrny srážek na Slovensku. Byla použita Spearmanova korelační metoda, která zjistila protikladné vlivy NAO na již zmiňované sezonní srážkové úhrny. Zatímco kladné korelační koeficienty byly dosažené v oblasti Oravy a Kysuc, směrem k jihu se korelace měnila na negativní. Zjištěná zonální stratifikace může být vysvětlena bariérovým efektem Karpat

Human mortality impacts of the 2015 summer heat spells in Slovakia

In 2015, Central Europe experienced an unusually warm summer season. For a great majority of climatic stations around Slovakia, it had been the warmest summer ever recorded over their entire instrumental observation period. In this study, we investigate the mortality effects of hot days’ sequences during that particular summer on the Slovak population. In consideration of the range of available mortality data, the position of 2015 is analysed within the years 1996–2015. Over the given 20-year period, the summer heat spells of 2015 were by far the most severe from a meteorological point of view, and clearly the deadliest with the total of almost 540 excess deaths. In terms of impacts, an extraordinary 10-day August heat spell was especially remarkable. The massive lethal effects of heat would have likely been even more serious under normal circumstances, since the number of premature deaths appeared to be partially reduced due to a non-standard mortality pattern in the first quarter of the year. The heat spells of the extremely warm summer of 2015 in Slovakia are notable not just for their short-term response in mortality. It appears that in a combination with the preceding strong influenza season, they subsequently affected mortality conditions in the country in the following months up until the end of the year. The impacts described above were rather different for selected population subgroups (men and women, the elderly). Both separately and as a part of the annual mortality cycle, the 2015 summer heat spells may represent a particularly valuable source of information for public health.

The effects of the 1996–2012 summer heat events on human mortality in Slovakia

Abstract The impacts of summer heat events on the mortality of the Slovak population, both in total and for selected population sub-groups, are the foci of this study. This research is the first of its kind, focusing on a given population, and therefore one priority was to create a knowledge base for the issue and to basically evaluate existing conditions for the heat-mortality relationship in Slovakia. This article also aims to fill a void in current research on these issues in Europe. In addition to overall effects, we focused individually on the major historical heat events which occurred in the summers of 2007, 2010 and 2012. During the heat events, a non-negligible negative response in mortality was recorded and fatal effects were more pronounced during particularly strong heat events and periods which lasted for two or more days. In general, females and the elderly were the most sensitive groups in the population and mortality was characterized by several specific effects in individual population groups. The most extreme heat periods were commonly followed by a deficit in mortality, corresponding to a short-term mortality displacement, the pattern of which varied in specific cases. In general, displaced mortality appeared to compensate for a large part of heat-induced excess deaths.