Researchers working under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant have created a national county-level map of heat vulnerability to determine the areas most at risk for heat related deaths, and most in need of intervention. The study was spurred by the fact that climate change is projected to raise the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves in the United States and around the world. The resulting the health risks from these events are easily preventable, but adaptation plans, particularly in dense urban areas, need to be in place.
The researchers looked at six demographic conditions that play a part in vulnerability, including lower education, poverty, being a race other than white, living alone, older age and presence of diabetes. They modeled vegetation cover based on satellite imagery to determine the level of cooler green space, and they looked at two different household air conditioning variables from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Because not all populations are at equal health risk from heat, knowing where vulnerable populations are located can aid cities in targeting their resources most effectively, and, at the state and regional scale, can facilitate coordination of heat emergency plans. A national map of county-level heat vulnerability allows us to situate vulnerability to heat in geographic space and identify areas most in need of intervention.”
A detailed research article, with methodology and extensive references, appears in Environmental Health Perspectives, and can be viewed online here.
