ABSTRACT

In the past decade, the inevitable increase in temperature has caused Malaysia to experience more extreme heat events, and yet very little research has been dedicated in exploring the heat-related vulnerability of exposed population. In this study, the extreme heat vulnerability index (EHVI) has been evaluated to identify the most vulnerable districts to extreme heat events. We evaluated exposure, population sensitivity and adaptive capacity from sociodemographic and remote sensing data. We have applied multivariate analysis on 13 indicators for every 87 districts to elucidate the extreme heat vulnerability in Peninsular Malaysia. The EHVI was generated by summing up the normalized extreme heat exposure scores and factor scores from the multivariate analysis. Our findings clarify that the most vulnerable populations are confined in the urban and northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. The source of vulnerability varied between both regions, with urbanization and population density increase the vulnerability in urban areas, high heat exposure and sensitive population are the dominant factors of vulnerability in the northern region. These findings are valuable in identifying districts vulnerable to extreme heat and help regulatory body; in designing effective adaptation and preparedness strategies to increase the population resilience towards extreme heat.

摘要

在过去十年中，不可避免的气温升高导致马来西亚经历了更多的极端高温事件，但很少有研究致力于探索暴露人群与高温相关的脆弱性。在这项研究中，对极端高温脆弱性指数 (EHVI) 进行了评估，以确定最容易受到极端高温事件影响的地区。我们从社会人口和遥感数据评估了暴露、人口敏感性和适应能力。我们对每 87 个地区的 13 个指标进行了多元分析，以阐明马来西亚半岛的极端高温脆弱性。EHVI 是通过将归一化的极端高温暴露分数和多变量分析的因子分数相加得出的。我们的研究结果表明，最脆弱的人群仅限于马来西亚半岛的城市和北部地区。两个地区的脆弱性来源不同，随着城市化和人口密度的增加，城市地区的脆弱性增加，高温暴露和敏感人群是北部地区脆弱性的主导因素。这些发现对于确定易受极端高温影响的地区和帮助监管机构很有价值；设计有效的适应和备灾战略，以提高人口对极端高温的抵御能力。高温暴露和敏感人群是北部地区脆弱性的主要因素。这些发现对于确定易受极端高温影响的地区和帮助监管机构很有价值；设计有效的适应和备灾战略，以提高人口对极端高温的抵御能力。高温暴露和敏感人群是北部地区脆弱性的主要因素。这些发现对于确定易受极端高温影响的地区和帮助监管机构很有价值；设计有效的适应和备灾战略，以提高人口对极端高温的抵御能力。