Newsletters

Rising temperatures will cause more deaths than all infectious diseases – study
The growing but largely unrecognized death toll from rising global temperatures will come close to eclipsing the current number of deaths from all the infectious diseases combined if planet-heating emissions are not constrained, a major new study has found. Rising temperatures are set to cause particular devastation in poorer, hotter parts of the world that will struggle to adapt to unbearable conditions that will kill increasing numbers of people. The economic loss from the climate crisis, as well as the cost of adaptation, will be felt around the world, including in wealthy countries. (Guardian)

How decades of racist housing policy left neighborhoods sweltering
In cities like Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Portland and New York, neighborhoods that are poorer and have more residents of color can be 5 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter parts of the same city. And there’s growing evidence that this is no coincidence. Redlined neighborhoods, which remain lower-income and more likely to have Black or Hispanic residents, consistently have far fewer trees and parks that help cool the air. They also have more paved surfaces, such as asphalt lots or nearby highways, that absorb and radiate heat. (NYT)

Rising temperatures put more US workers at risk of dying from heat
In 2018, 60 workers died due to temperature extremes. Though the climate crisis is creating conditions where workers are facing hotter temperatures on a more frequent basis, there are no federal safety protections for workers in extreme temperatures, and only three states, California, Washington and Minnesota, have heat stress workplace protection standards. “We’ve had issues where workers are not classified as dying because of their job when we know that is the case,…With heat you’re running into a lot of vulnerable workers, immigrant workers, where employers will pass it off, say something else happened, and no one is following up and that person’s family don’t know their rights to get it classified as a workplace fatality.” (Guardian)

Parks in nonwhite areas are half the size of ones in majority-white areas, study says
In the midst of another hot summer and an ongoing pandemic, public parks are vital refuge. But a new study has found that access to parks in the U.S. differs sharply according to income and race. A study published by The Trust for Public Land found that parks serving primarily nonwhite populations are, on average, half the size of parks that serve majority-white populations, and are potentially five times more crowded. The data showed that parks serving mostly low-income households are, on average, four times smaller — and potentially four times more crowded — than parks that serve mostly high-income households. As temperatures rise due to climate change, spaces to escape from the heat can be a matter of life and death. (NPR) Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Economists warn that a hotter world will be poorer and more unequal
Hotter temperatures by 2100 could slash global GDP by more than 20%, according to new research, and the way the economic impact will be distributed threatens to turn climate change into an enormous driver of worldwide inequality. A new analysis of the relationship between heat and economic performance by global forecasting firm Oxford Economics identified a divide between nations on either side of 15°C (59°F), the “global sweet spot” for economic activity. A country whose average annual temperatures today are cooler than 15° C, including those in North America and Europe, stand to benefit slightly in the short term from rising temperatures. Tropical and subtropical countries whose average temperatures are already warmer than 15°C today, including the entire global South, face catastrophic economic degradation. (Bloomberg)

Living in the dark: Native reservations struggle with power shortages in pandemic
The pandemic has exacerbated already severe energy and economic inequalities in Indian country. For decades, many tribes have suffered from inefficient energy infrastructure, high costs and a lack of funding for new projects. Low electricity rates are compounded by limited cell and broadband service on many reservations. These needs have only gotten worse during the pandemic. In the face of these challenges, Native people are turning to renewable energy to help their tribes achieve energy and economic independence. If successful, it could also provide growing job opportunities for communities that sorely need them. (Guardian)

California takes a big first step toward climate change adaptation
California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) just became the nation’s first regulator to require utilities to better account for the impact of climate change on energy infrastructure and services, ordering them to prioritize it in their planning and operations. Utilities will now have to develop internal climate change teams and conduct regular climate vulnerability assessments of their infrastructure and of their ability to reliably serve all customers, especially disadvantaged communities. The CPUC decision requires the utilities to identify under-resourced and climate-vulnerable communities in their service territories, conduct outreach to understand these communities’ energy related needs in the face of climate change, and then determine how to best meet these needs. (Clean Technica)

How air conditioning could keep everyone cool without cooking the planet
Last month, as a record heat wave roasted California, statewide energy consumption skyrocketed, forcing grid operators to issue rolling blackouts for the first time in nearly 20 years. The reason the grid was under so much strain? Millions upon millions of air conditioners were running full tilt. It was a stark illustration of the challenge humanity will face trying to keep everybody cool as the planet overheats. (Grist)

Climate Ready Truckee: Town reveals first climate vulnerability plan
Truckee’s first climate vulnerability and assessment plan outlines dozens of strategies and goals regarding how the town may deal with future climate change. The Climate Ready Truckee plan, outlined four main objectives. The first is to include diverse and disadvantaged segments of the community in the climate adaption planning process. The second is to conduct a vulnerability assessment of the facilities, infrastructure, transportation systems, structures, and populations that will be impacted by climate change. The third objective is to develop adaptation goals, policies, and actions addressing the impacts identified in the vulnerability assessment to enhance the community’s resilience to climate change. (Sierra Sun)

Heat Resilient Cities: Measuring benefits of urban heat adaptation
The impact of extreme temperatures on health and wellbeing is rising up policy agendas in many cities. The Excel-based Heat Resilient Cities benefits tool has been designed to help city planners and decision-makers to quantify the health, economic and environmental benefits of common urban heat adaptation actions. Cities can use this information to make the case for urban heat adaptation investments, and to prioritise the actions that are likely to have the most positive impact locally. Users can calculate the benefits brought by specific parks and green infrastructure, water bodies such as rivers and lakes, and cool and vegetative surfaces. The tool can also extrapolate results from these specific investments to calculate the benefits of scaling-up across the whole of the city. (C40 Knowledge Hub)

Guidance and Resources for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Health Equity
In response to inquiries about managing the colliding health crises of Coronavirus, wildfire, smoke, and extreme heat, the CDPH Office of Health Equity’s Climate Change & Health Equity Program compiled a new webpage: Guidance & Resources for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Health Equity. The page provide national and state guidance for protecting from climate change and health-related hazards in the context of COVID-19 and heath equity. Topics include Wildfires and Wildfire Smoke, Extreme Heat, Natural Disasters and Severe Weather, Disaster Shelters, Indoor Air, Local Emergency Preparedness, Guidance for Environmental Health Practitioners, and Community Health Indicators and Tools. (CDPH)