Climate change impacts can cause injuries and death, worsen pre-existing conditions such as asthma, create mental health problems, and more. Some health impacts are a direct result of the changing climate while others are indirect.

Heat stroke is an example of a direct impact of extreme heat. Rising temperatures lead to more extreme heat days with high temperatures and high humidity. This can increase heat exposure leading to heat stroke or heat exhaustion. In this case, the high temperature itself causes negative health outcomes making it a direct impact.

Hurricanes and mental health are a good example of indirect impacts. Hurricanes and major flood events can destroy homes and infrastructure and lead to loss of homes and belongings. Families must leave their homes, cope with the loss of personal belongings, and some may have to stay in shelters which can cause indirect health impacts like increased stress and anxiety.

Climate solutions are grouped into two categories: adaptation and mitigation.

• Mitigation refers to methods that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the Earth from warming more. Policy changes to decrease emissions and increase walking, biking, and public transit are examples of efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
• Adaptation refers to individual, community and government actions to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and increase the ability withstand the changes in the climate. Heat response plans, tree planting, updated infrastructure, improved flood control, public health messaging and financial assistance are some examples of potential adaptation strategies.

For information about how climate and health directly impact our community, explore the initiatives that the Climate Program has planned - including those around heat, air quality, and flooding.

CLIMATE AND HEALTH RISK PROFILES

The risk profile project is comprised of two parts— a vulnerability assessment and disease burden projections. These two components are also the first two steps in the CDC’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework. The risk profiles are essential for creating a strong foundation for future climate work. They allow for the prioritization of vulnerable communities and the targeting of climate impacts to better customize engagement and implementation activities. In addition, they provide HCPH with local references and statistics to communicate and advance our climate and health mission.

PHASE 1: VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS

The vulnerability assessments examine certain climate impacts and the corresponding health effects they have on communities. They identify which communities are most vulnerable, allowing HCPH to concentrate public health interventions (e.g. community outreach, cooling center placement and nature-based solutions) in areas that need them most. The current vulnerability assessments are focused around extreme heat, flooding and air quality. In the future the focus will expand to include other climate concerns and explore the interactions between multiple climate impacts.

• Climate and Health Vulnerability Assessments

PHASE 2: DISEASE BURDEN PROJECTIONS

Disease burden projections combine climate change projections and current climate-related disease data to produce estimates of disease burden under future climatic scenarios. With funding from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the CDC, HCPH will collaborate with Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) to begin the disease burden projections for extreme heat.