Elke Hertig

I hold a professorship for Regional Climate Change and Health at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg. I studied Geography with a focus on Climatology. I am a lecturer at the Institute of Geography as well as at the Faculty of Medicine. The major focus of my research is on quantitative analyses of recent and future climate variability and climate change and their ecological and human impacts. I am an expert in Statistical Downscaling, i.e., the regional to local modeling of climate and extreme events. I am involved in research projects dealing with heat stress and other health-related climate factors in urban environments.

I highly appreciate interdisciplinary research on the relationships between climate/ environmental change and human health.

Personal research interests

The effects of climate change on health are significant challenges for humankind in the 21st century. Focus is given to the questions about how atmospheric conditions influence human well-being and health and the variability of the interrelationships. Variations in weather and climate, especially extreme events such as heatwaves, are directly linked to health effects. In addition, complex indirect relationships can be identified, for example, in connection with air pollution or the risks of vector-borne diseases. The health-related impacts of anticipated weather and climate variations in the context of the anthropogenically induced global Climate Change are particularly significant on regional to local scales. Due to their particularly high vulnerability, my studies focus on urban areas.

Contact: elke.hertig@med.uni-augsburg.de