How Weather and Climate Shape Our Health and Well‑being
From Hippocrates to the heat warning — a clear, readable guide to how the atmosphere acts on the human body, and what we can do about it. In forty‑nine short chapters the book takes the reader from the thin shell of air that keeps us alive to the practical tools that protect health today: thermal indices, the UV Index, pollen forecasts, heat action plans and the medical‑meteorological forecast.
Standard layout, 255 pages — best for reading on a screen or printing at home.
Download book formatPocket‑sized layout, 259 pages — ideal for e‑readers and for printing as a booklet.
Download A5 formatFoundations — the atmosphere, weather and climate, and the story of the field from “Airs, Waters, Places” to UTCI.
Heat and cold — thermal comfort, PET and UTCI, humid heat, wind chill, heat at work and in sport.
Sun and light — ultraviolet radiation, sunburn and the UV Index, vitamin D, and the inner clock.
Air — particles, gases, ground‑level ozone, wildfire smoke, indoor air, pollen and noise.
Weather and health — weather and illness, weather sensitivity, ticks and mosquitoes, and who is most at risk.
Cities — the urban heat island, microclimate, green and water, and how to cool a city.
Climate as a resource — healthy weather, climate therapy, mountain air, travel and tourism.
Climate change and action — health impacts, extremes, mitigation and adaptation, heat action plans.
Information and outlook — reliable sources, biometeorology in the media, climate anxiety, and the Biowetter.
Written for a broad readership — students, health professionals, planners, journalists and curious general readers — it needs no special background. Every idea is explained in plain language and, wherever it matters, brought back to the person: what the weather asks of the body, and what helps.
A tradition made useful. The book keeps one thread throughout — the two‑thousand‑year‑old question of how a place shapes health — and shows how it became a public service. It is honest about the evidence, generous with practical advice, and illustrated throughout.
Standard layout, 255 pages — best for reading on a screen or printing at home.
Download book formatPocket‑sized layout, 259 pages — ideal for e‑readers and for printing as a booklet.
Download A5 format
Prof. Dr. Andreas Matzarakis, University of Freiburg
andreas.matzarakis@meteo.uni-freiburg.de · www.matzarakis.de