This document discusses the impacts of climate change on public health and environmental justice communities through the built environment. It notes that climate change is exacerbating health issues like asthma and heat-related illnesses. Those most at risk include the homeless, outdoor workers, children, elderly, and low-income communities and communities of color. As the climate changes, adaptation is needed in how infrastructure is built to protect vulnerable groups and ensure more resilient communities. The document calls for policies and market incentives to reflect climate change risks and for urgent action on climate change as a public health emergency.

1. Climate Change, Public Health and the
Built Environment
Adrienne L. Hollis, PhD, JD
Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist
Union of Concerned Scientists

4. We’re Really, Really Sure!

5. 1 ℃ World

6. Climate Change, Public Health
and Environmental Justice

7. http://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/images/climate_change_health_impacts600w.j

9. 9

10. Environmental Justice
• Cultural norms and values, rules, regulations, behaviors, policies and
decisions to support sustainable communities
• Decent paying and safe jobs, quality schools and recreation, affordable
housing, adequate health care, personal empowerment, and communities
free of violence, drugs, and poverty
• Communities where both cultural and biological diversity are respected
and highly revered, and where distributive justice prevails
10

11. The Built
Environment
• “Our built environment includes
all the human-made physical
spaces where we live, recreate
and work. These include our
buildings, furnishings, open and
public spaces, roads, utilities
and other infrastructure. These
structures and spaces affect our
health by bringing pollutants
into our environments and by
allowing or restricting access to
physical activity, transportation
and social interactions.”
Collaborative on Health and the
Environment

12. CLIMATE
CHANGE AND
THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT

13. Who is at
risk?
✔ Areas with Little to No Greenspace
✔ The Homeless
✔ People Working Outside
✔ Infants and Children
✔ People with Chronic Medical Conditions
✔ Older Adults
✔ Athletes
✔ Certain Racial/Ethnic Groups and/or Low Income
Households
✔ People living in Areas with Traditionally Cooler
Temperatures
https://blog.ucsusa.org/juan-declet-
barreto/vulnerable-populations-at-risk-
fatal-heat

14. “In NYC, the risk of illness or
death related to heat waves is
higher in communities with
higher surface temperatures
and less green space, and poor
communities of color that have
experienced historical racism
and segregation.”
NYC Department of Health
website.

16. A woman works as an advertising sign holder in Las Vegas during a heat wave in July 2014. While extreme heat already affects the lives of
many US residents—killing hundreds each year and sending many more to the hospital with heat-related illnesses—continued global warming
will cause a steep increase in extreme heat conditions nationwide.

17. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

18. Asthma and Climate Change
• 11.4 Million People had asthma attacks in
2017
• >3 Million Children
• African-American children – highest
prevalence of asthma
• 13.4% have asthma compared to 7.4% of
white children
• Emergency department and Urgent Care
Centers – highest among Black children < 4
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

19. “We have seen a huge
spike in ER visits and
admissions…in the
past several weeks.
Huge. We have been
admitting people left
and right.”
--Dr. Arash Armin, chief of
Emergency Medicine and Chief of
Staff at Beaumont Hospital, Trenton,
MI. July 19, 2019

20. AP Photo: Charlie Riedel
AP: Rich Pedroncelli
• Exposure to direct sun can
↑ heat index values by as much as 15°F.
• Texas and Florida have had an ↑ in the
number of construction workers
• Migrant farmworkers face significant
barriers to preventing heat-related illness:
lack regular breaks, lack of shade, medical
services or health insurance, etc.
Outdoor Workers

21. The Homeless
• Individuals and Families
• Youth under 25
• Veterans
• Mentally ill
• Chronically Homeless
• Victims of forced
migration
• Refugees
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

22. What does flooding mean for coastal property?

23. Photo:Hodgejr/Dreamstime.com
Underwater:
Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for U.S. Coastal Real Estate

24. Defining Chronic Inundation
Photo: Emily Michot/The Miami Herald via AP

25. Economic Reverberations of Chronic Flooding

27. Jackson, MS – January 2020

28. Jackson,
Mississippi

31. FORCED MIGRATION

32. Climate Change
Impacts
European Road

34. Climate Change Is Affecting New England

35. Mold, Pollen and Climate Change in Philadelphia

36. As Climate Changes,
the Way Homes are
Built Must Change

38. WE Can Fix It!

39. Our Challenges and Choices

40. Using “Response Time” Wisely

41. Coastal Adaptation
Photo: Rosanna Arias/FEMA
• Defend
• Accommodate
• Move out of
Harm’s way

42. Photocredit:MattGreen
Planning for a Resilient Future for All

43. Realign policies & market incentives to reflect risk

45. Takeaways
•Climate Change is a Public Health Emergency
•Environmental Justice communities and
frontline communities are hit FIRST and WORST
• The Time to Act is NOW