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Poor air quality remains the largest environmental health risk in Europe, despite the EU policy efforts. Especially in cities, the synergistic interactions between the urban heat island and urban pollution result in premature mortality, associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Mediterranean urban areas are particularly susceptible under the consideration that the intensity, frequency, and duration of heat waves will increase due to climate change. The LIFE SIRIUS project designates that air quality management needs to go beyond traditional approaches in order to consider synergistic effects. This paper assesses the impact of temperature on daily mortality from 2004 to 2019 in the Republic of Cyprus with the use of a Generalized Additive Model (GAM). The association between mean daily temperature and mortality is nonlinear, implying that a prompt rise in deaths occurs when temperatures are high, while for colder temperatures, the effect is delayed. We report an inverted J-shaped relationship between mean temperature and mortality, with the most prominent effects on human health documented at low temperatures. The population under study appears to be acclimatized to local conditions, as mortality increases after 10 days of exposure to the environmental risk. The results of this study will assist in the definition of city-specific thresholds above which health warnings for the protection of the local population will be issued, in the framework of LIFE SIRIUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to assess the carbon footprint (CF) of electricity use and transportation, with a focus on teleworking, through the implementation of two research projects that were initiated before and completed after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study applies an integrated methodology based on the GHG Protocol guidance and DEFRA emission factors to investigate the CF of the projects, both during the pre-pandemic and teleworking period, as well as during the pandemic period with 50% teleworking. The results indicate that telecommuting contributed to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 49-55%. Furthermore, a 20% reduction in car usage for commuting to and from work resulted in reductions of approximately 30% in transportation. These findings suggest that implementing such measures post-COVID-19 could have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]