• Energy Research

The climate and thermal comfort of а destination greatly influence the tourism industry. Therefore, this study was focused on researching thermal comfort changes and their impacts on visitors in four highly visited coastal destinations along the eastern Adriatic coast (Pula, Zadar, Split, and Dubrovnik) from 1996 to 2020, using the modified physiologically equivalent temperature index (mPET). The specific objective was to assess how the thermal comfort conditions are distributed spatially and temporally and how they are suitable for beach and sightseeing tourism. Results showed that monthly mean mPET values have increased, except in May. In the summer season, tourists were often exposed to uncomfortable heat stress, especially in the middle of the day. Strong and extreme heat stress frequency significantly increased in all sites except in Pula, particularly in July and August. Prevailing neutral and slightly warm/cold conditions were concentrated in two periods, between April and June and in September and October. The maximum occurrence of optimal climatic conditions for enjoying the beach was in the summer, with a decreasing tendency from May to August. The occurrence of favorable conditions for sightseeing significantly increased in April and November while it decreased from July to September. Although the eastern Adriatic coast is primarily a summer tourist area, a relatively small number of tourists take advantage of the period with optimal thermal comfort. Despite the fact that the number of tourists in the shoulder seasons has increased significantly in the past 25 years, the increasing favorable thermal comfort in the changing climate conditions will make these seasons even more appealing in the future, especially for sightseeing activities. New strategies for adapting to a changing climate are therefore needed.

This paper analyzes thermal environment condition in Banat on the basis eighteen year long data series in the period 1992-2008. Two thermal indexes (TI), suggested by World meteorological organization, are used, heat index and wind chill index. Analysis shows that mean annual TI were lower than mean annual air temperatures that indicate considerable influence of wind on feeling temperatures in Banat. Analysis also shows that TI increased at rate 0.7°C per decade that is likely to be due to a rise in air temperature under global warming and urban development. Besides TI growth, increasing trend of frequency of TI in heat stress categories is found (1.63 days per years). Frequency of TI in cold stress categories shows a trend of a decrease (0.26 days per years). Unfavorable thermal conditions during the summer have Zrenjanin, while during the winter time Kikinda.

The impact of solar activity on environmental processes is difficult to understand and complex for empirical modeling. This study aimed to establish forecast models of the meteorological conditions in the forest fire areas based on the solar activity parameters applying the neural networks approach. During July and August 2018, severe forest fires simultaneously occurred in the State of California (USA), Portugal, and Greece. Air temperature and humidity data together with solar parameters (integral flux of solar protons, differential electron flux and proton flux, solar wind plasma parameters, and solar radio flux at 10.7 cm data) were used in long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network ensembles. It is found that solar activity mostly affects the humidity for two stations in California and Portugal (an increase in the integral flux of solar protons of > 30 MeV by 10% increases the humidity by 3.25%, 1.65%, and 1.57%, respectively). Furthermore, an increase in air temperature of 10% increases the humidity by 2.55%, 2.01%, and 0.26%, respectively. It is shown that temperature is less sensitive to changes in solar parameters but depends on previous conditions (previous increase of 10% increases the current temperature by 0.75%, 0.34%, and 0.33%, respectively). Humidity in Greece is mostly impacted by solar flux F10.7 cm and previous values of humidity. An increase in these factors by 10% will lead to a decrease in the humidity of 3.89% or an increase of 1.31%, while air temperature mostly depends on ion temperature. If this factor increases by 10%, it will lead to air temperature rising by 0.42%.

This study investigates factors contributing to public perception of and behaviors related to air pollution in Serbia. A range of multidimensional indicators, including demographic and socioeconomic features, health status data, and living environment factors, were utilized to evaluate observed awareness and exposure activities. Air pollution is a serious health concern in many areas of Serbia, particularly during the cold season when emissions from the heating sector contribute to high levels of particulate matter. In the period from March to May 2023, a nationwide survey was conducted to gather empirical data and insights that can assist policymakers in the creation of public-health strategies. A set of research questions included the perception of air-pollution impact and citizens’ responses to eight pre-defined exposure-reduction activities. Statistical procedures (a chi-square test of independence, a Mann–Whitney U test, and a Kruskal–Wallis H test) were applied to isolate driving factors in the public response to increased air-pollution levels. The findings suggest a “gap” between risk understanding and risk-reducing behaviors. To address this issue and to ensure that regulations are implemented effectively, it is crucial to prioritize education, develop communication strategies, increase local interventions, and target vulnerable population groups.

This study aims to indicate the importance of revising current health recommendations concerning the duration of exposure and individual sensitivity of the skin to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. For this purpose, a 16-year data series (2005-2020) of erythemal radiant exposure (Her) and UV index (UVI) for Serbia was analyzed. The UV-related risk was estimated for lighter skin (skin phototypes I-IV) under prolonged exposure on days when maximum UVI was below the recommended protection threshold (UVIlow days, for UVI < 3). Risk assessment was performed for seasonal exposure using satellite-derived data (OMUVBd product) previously validated by ground-based measurements in Novi Sad. The assessment of harmful effects included an analysis of the relation between the daily maximum UVI and the corresponding daily Her, the occurrence of UVIlow days, the exceedance of minimal erythema dose (MED), and the minimum duration of exposure to induce erythema (tMED) for all lighter skin phototypes. It was found that the share of UVIlow days in the total number of days in Serbia increases with the latitude, with the highest percentage in winter (up to 69.454%) and the lowest in summer (up to 3.468%). The results show that the daily Her frequently exceeded the harmful threshold for lighter skin phototypes I-IV (on average by 91.521, 84.923, 70.556, and 56.515%, respectively) on UVIlow days. It was found that prolonged exposure on days with a maximum of UVI = 2 poses a significant risk of erythema for all lighter skin phototypes, even for a duration of 3 h in the middle of the day, as well as medium risk for UVI = 1, and an absence of risk for UVI = 0. The results suggest that health recommendations should be revised, especially in the mid-latitudes, where the share of UVIlow days is large, and in areas where the population is predominantly lighter-skinned.

In this article we considered the extreme temperatures, precipitation and UV-B radiation in Vojvodina region, Serbia. We describe the actual climate conditions for the period 1981?2007 and applied a dynamic downscaling technique using the EBU-POM regional coupled climate model under the SRES-A2 scenario to assess the changes for the period 2021-2100. The results indicate that a warmer and drier climate in the Vojvodina region can be expected at the end of the century. Projection of climate indicates to a strong increase in the mean annual minimum temperatures, and much smaller increase in the mean annual maximum temperatures. The increase of both extreme temperatures is predicted to be the highest in the winter and the lowest in the summer. Mean annual precipitation is projected to increase toward the end of the first half of the 21st century and to decrease for the last 30 years of the 21st century. Precipitation amount will be the highest during the winter and spring. The model simulations show that, by the end of this century, annual mean UV-B dose will recover by 5.2%. Recovery will be faster in the first half of the 21st century and more slowly later on. The UV-B doses recovery is expected to be the highest during the autumn and spring.

This study is devoted to the research of spatial-temporal variation of electricity generation from the kilowatt-peak photovoltaic system made of crystalline silicon solar cells. The research was conducted in the territory of Serbia using the model for estimation photovoltaic performances as a function of incident irradiance and module temperature. Preparation of input data and calculation of the final results was done within the geographical information system. Some of the required raster data, like solar irradiance and wind speed, were already available, while air temperature raster was created from discrete set of observed data using the regression-kriging model. Obtained results were presented in the form of raster maps that enabled further analysis and discussion about new findings. The analysis of seasonal variations reveals that during spring and summer months photovoltaic systems are producing up to 70% of total annual electricity yield. In terms of the spatial distribution, the most promising areas for electricity generation are located in the south part of Serbia and along main river valleys. In addition, discussion part addresses the issue of data imperfection caused by the accuracy of the selected model, as well as quality and availability of data series.