A child cools off at an open fire hydrant in Bloomington, Indiana, in August. An EPA report details who will be most impacted by weather extremes in the U.S. because of climate change.
Photo by Jeremy Hogan, courtesy SOPA Images/Getty Images
As climate-driven weather events increase in magnitude in coming decades, racial and ethnic minority populations will be disproportionately impacted, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts.
Released in September, EPA’s peer-reviewed report, “Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the United States: A Focus on Six Impact Sectors,” examines the human impact of climate change by quantifying disproportionate risks to populations in the contiguous states. The report looks at six areas of exposure: air quality and health, extreme temperature and health, extreme temperature and labor, coastal flooding and traffic, coastal flooding and property, and inland flooding and property.
Researchers identified where impacts from climate hazards are projected to be highest in U.S. regions, then estimated their impact on vulnerable populations. People of color showed the highest prevalence for health-related impacts.
“Black, Latino, Indigenous and other people of color, as well as people with disabilities and other marginalized groups — who are already especially vulnerable due to systemic racism and other sociopolitical factors — encounter many barriers in trying to prepare for, cope with and recover from climate change impacts,”
Tia Taylor Williams, MPH, CNS, director of APHA’s Center for Public Policy, told The Nation’s Health.
Extreme weather events are increasing and causing human health concerns in the U.S.
Photo by Darwin Brandis, courtesy iStockphoto
Researchers based their estimates on a projected increase in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius.
With a 2 degrees Celsius rise, Black Americans are 40% more likely than other groups to live in areas showing the highest estimates for climate-driven extreme temperature-related deaths, the report found. With 4 degrees Celsius rise, the estimate increases to 59%. Also, Blacks are 34% more likely to live in areas with the highest projected increases in childhood asthma diagnoses due to air pollution, assuming 2 degrees Celsius rise. When the Celsius increase is doubled, the estimate rises to 41%. From newborns to 17-year-olds, Blacks are at highest risk of asthma, with most cases in the Southeast and Southwest.
The report estimated that assuming 2 degrees Celsius rise, extreme heat will result in 14 hours of labor lost each year for outdoor workers due to a heat illness. Hispanics are 43% more at risk of living in high-impact areas.
American Indians are 37% more at risk of living in regions where labor hours are lost each year due to extreme temperatures.
Turning to sea rise, Alaska Natives are 48% more likely than other groups to live in coastal regions with the most land at risk of disappearing beneath sea water. And Asian Americans are 23% more at risk of living in coastal areas with the highest projected increases in traffic delays from climate-related high-tide flooding.
Education and income play a role in climate-related exposure. People with low incomes or who have not graduated high school are 25% more likely to live in areas of extreme heat, and 13% more at risk of living on coastal floodplains. They are also 50% more at risk of living in coastal areas with the highest projected increases in traffic delays from flooding.
“This report punctuates the urgency of equitable action on climate change,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan, MPA, said in a news release. “With this level of science and data, we can more effectively center EPA’s mission on achieving environmental justice for all.”
For the EPA report, visit www.epa.gov. For resources on climate and health, visit www.apha.org/climate.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
