| Project description |
| Direct and indirect impacts of climate change will influence individual persons’ well-being and health through long-term, complex, and often concealed processes. HERCULES addresses the changes and uncertainties caused by climate change on different population groups in urban areas by combining regional climate modelling with detailed information about the environment (land use / land cover), socio-economy and health. Furthermore, by combining these data with urban development and climate policy, HERCULES addresses the question of how policy instruments can be used to alleviate climate-related health risks. By exploring the spatial and temporal differentiation of health related climate risks with the produced GIS database, HERCULES provides new knowledge of how these risks are distributed in six largest cities in Finland, how they may be altered as a result of climate change, and how these risks should be tackled in these cities’ strategic planning. |