Rising temperatures and worsening air pollution are two major environmental challenges affecting human health globally. While both exposures are known to independently increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, their combined effects particularly under real-world conditions remain poorly understood.
This project examines the short-term joint impact of heat and air pollution on cardiovascular health using high-resolution environmental and health datasets across India and Australia. In India, the study utilises daily clinical data obtained through the Cardiology Society of India (CSI), alongside satellite-derived air pollution data (PM₂.₅, NO₂, O₃) and temperature-based heat metrics. The analysis focuses on understanding how short-term fluctuations in environmental exposures influence cardiovascular outcomes across diverse climatic regions.
In Australia, the project uses hospital emergency department data to understand patterns of heart-related health events vary as synergy of air pollution and heat stress acts across different cities and regions, providing a comparative perspective across populations and diverse climate settings,
By integrating datasets across two contrasting settings, this project aims to generate robust evidence on how combined environmental exposures affect cardiovascular health, and how these relationships vary across climate zones and populations.
Research Outcomes
- Supports evidence generation on climate-sensitive health risks, particularly cardiovascular impacts of heat and air pollution, in both India and Australia.
- Establishes cross-country comparative frameworks, enabling insights into how environmental risks differ between high-income and lower-middle-income settings.
- Strengthens collaborations between academic institutions and clinical bodies (e.g., Cardiology Society of India), supporting future translation of research into policy-relevant evidence.
