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Climate and Health in Oregon: 2020 Report
2020
The 2020 report “Climate Change and Health in Oregon,” issued by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), describes the many health risks caused or exacerbated by climate change impacts that can harm the health of Oregon’s population, with special attention given to frontline populations. The report discusses risks to physical and mental health and covers cross-cutting risks such as economic impacts and displacement, as well as climate hazards such as heat, floods, fire, and disease. It also summarizes state policy actions on climate and health risks.
Related Organizations: Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division
Resource Category: Assessments
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Climate and Health Adaptation Planning Guide for Michigan Communities
October 2020
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with Michigan State’s School of Planning, Design and Construction, released their Climate and Health Adaptation Planning Guide for Michigan Communities in October 2020. The purpose of the Guide is to help communities in Michigan and other Great Lakes states develop a climate and health adaptation plan and integrate climate and health concepts into existing initiatives. The Guide describes a step-by-step approach laying out how communities can develop a plan, and includes tools and guidance on how to implement each step.
Related Organizations: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan State University
Resource Category: Planning
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Resilient Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Resilient Baton Rouge is a program designed to increase local community capacity in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana to manage mental and behavioral health in flood-prone parts of the region. By engaging local leaders and healthcare providers, the program has been able to focus on not only delivering mental health services to residents displaced by floodwaters, but also to engage community members in a longer-term process to strengthen both the local communities themselves but also the plans to increase resilience in the region. By deeply engaging affected residents and stakeholders, the plans for resilience broadly are more responsive and targeted to those most affected by the floods. The program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with fiscal sponsorship from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.
Related Organizations: Louisiana Department of Health, Community and Patient Partnered Research Network, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Baton Rouge Health District
Resource Category: Solutions
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Million Trees Miami - Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County, Florida’s Million Trees Miami initiative aims to plant 1 million trees in lower-income communities with insufficient tree canopy in order to alleviate heat stress in the county. This initiative stems from the County’s 2006 Street Tree Master Plan, which set a goal to achieve 30% tree canopy in Miami-Dade by 2020. Neat Streets Miami, a multi-jurisdictional County Board, is working to implement this goal through the Million Trees Miami initiative. Through a 2016 Urban Tree Canopy Assessment, the County determined that lower-income areas, including predominantly African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, had significantly less tree canopy than their wealthier counterparts. As a result, the County is prioritizing tree planting in its most impoverished and low-canopy areas through initiatives such as the Street Tree Matching Grant. Increased tree canopy cover in communities provides many important adaptation benefits, including protection from flooding, urban heat island mitigation, and improved water and air quality.
Related Organizations: Miami-Dade County, Florida
Resource Category: Solutions
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New York City COVID-19 Heat Wave Plan
May 15, 2020
In May of 2020, New York City (NYC)’s Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a COVID-19 Heat Wave Plan to keep vulnerable New Yorkers cool at home, create safer summer cooling options, and anticipate and reduce power outages. The plan addresses the higher risk for indoor summer heat exposure that vulnerable residents face while simultaneously trying to maintain social distancing in the context of a global pandemic. The $55 million plan directs the City to install 74,000 air conditioning units in the homes of residents who are 60 years of age or older, retrofit new spaces for emergency cooling centers, and better prepare for power outages. The plan lessens risk for vulnerable NYC residents of heat-related illnesses and death, as well as COVID exposure or infection. NYC recognizes the intrinsic connection with climate change, social equity, and COVID-19 recovery, and is committed to protecting the most vulnerable from climate impacts like extreme heat.
Related Organizations: City of New York, New York, New York City Housing Authority, New York State Public Service Commission
Resource Category: Planning
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Wisconsin Climate and Health Toolkits
2019
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services created the Climate and Health Toolkits to offer guidance on health-related climate change preparedness and response to local governments, health departments, and the public. Nine toolkits focused on Extreme Heat, Flood, Winter Weather, Wildfire, Chemical Release, Harmful Algal Blooms, Drought, Thunderstorms and Tornadoes, and Vectorborne Disease are provided, each accompanied by a one-page fact sheet for general audiences. Each toolkit offers background information, climate trends, and health impacts associated with the topic, as well as preparedness strategies and guidance, best practice tips, communication tools for outreach, and additional resources.
Related Organizations: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Resource Category: Solutions
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Clean Air Centers in Seattle, Washington
June 2019
The City of Seattle, Washington is establishing five new facilities that will provide clean air for its most at-risk residents during hazardous conditions brought on by wildfires. As the climate warms, Seattle is experiencing a major uptick in the number of wildfires, and consequently more days with unhealthy air quality from particulate matter. This issue is especially significant for Seattle, as the majority of the city’s residents do not have air conditioning, and mostly open windows to circulate air from outside to cool homes.
Related Organizations: City of Seattle, Washington
Resource Category: Solutions
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Health Equity Report for the District of Columbia 2018
February 8, 2019
The Health Equity Report for the District of Columbia 2018 from DC Health takes a comprehensive look at social and structural determinants of health in Washington D.C. and presents the extent of health disparities aligning with differences in income, race, and geography. The report recognizes that climate change poses long-term risks to human health, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable, and that climate adaptation is critical to reduce negative impacts on all people.
Related Organizations: District of Columbia Department of Health (DC Health)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Maryland Park Equity Mapper
2019
The Maryland Park Equity Mapper combines layers of demographic and environmental data in order to determine the park equity of different census tracts in Maryland, allowing users to visualize disparities in park access and quality across the state. The tool was developed by the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) Laboratory at the University of Maryland School of Public Health in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR) and University of Maryland Center for Geospatial Information Science (CGIS). This tool can be used by residents and policymakers in order to identify underserved communities that are in need of new park infrastructure and green space.
Related Organizations: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, University of Maryland
Resource Category: Data and tools
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Maryland Environmental Justice Screen Tool (MD EJSCREEN)
January 2019
The Maryland Environmental Justice Screen Tool (MD EJSCREEN) assesses environmental justice risks among census tracts in the state of Maryland. Developed by the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health Laboratory at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, this tool combines the average pollution burden of a community with the average population demographic characteristics to produce an Environmental Justice (EJ) score. Stakeholders advocacy resulted in the inclusion of six indicators of EJ risk specific to Maryland: asthma, emergency room discharges, percent non-White, proximity to treatment, storage and disposal facilities, myocardial infarction discharges, low birth weight infants, and particulate matter. Through this tool, Maryland residents can be better informed of disparities in EJ risk among different communities and their associated health impacts.
Related Organizations: University of Maryland
Resource Category: Data and tools
