Neighbourhoods and Climate Change Vulnerability

Climate change-related health effects are broad, ranging from malnutrition to cardiovascular effects to infectious diseases to mental health impacts. However, not all populations are equally affected. Population groups such as older adults, pregnant women, children, outdoor workers, and some immigrants could be at higher risk because of personal, physiological, employment, cultural, behavioral, or other characteristics. These can be used as indicators to evaluate the unequal impacts of climate change.

Evidence has also shown that older adults are more susceptible to the effects of extreme weather events because of physiological characteristics, agility and mobility challenges, visual, cognitive, and hearing impairments, reduced literacy, and social isolation. Extreme heat events (hot days and warm nights) can impact older adults by increasing disease or illness and death from cardiovascular, respiratory, and cerebrovascular disease. Older adults may also have a diminished ability to sense and respond to dehydration.

Recent immigrants to Canada may have different vulnerability experiences from extreme weather events due to language and literacy barriers, cultural differences, unique media use patterns, and limited knowledge of health and social service programs. Additionally, immigrants may be less willing or able to seek help for health issues related to weather and air pollution. While immigrants may be healthier than native-born Canadians when they first arrive, this healthy immigrant effect diminishes with time. Socioeconomic differences, living arrangements, cultural and/or language barriers, as well as occupational exposures, can contribute to the increased risks in different ethnic groups.   

For this project, we proposed to develop and map vulnerability indices that can be used to survey predictors of weather- and air pollution-related chronic health effects. A novel approach to surveillance is needed to capture understudied populations that may be missed using traditional methodologies. For example, a system that relies on passive surveillance will likely miss populations groups (e.g. new immigrants) that do not visit or have access to health facilities. We propose an approach that uses several sources of data to build a more comprehensive and complete picture of climate change-related chronic disease vulnerability in the whole population (Yu 2019). There is evidence to suggest that this approach is necessary and useful. It has been argued that indicators are needed to evaluate nations’ and communities’ capacity and prepare health systems to manage health risks in the face of climate change (Ebi et al. 2018). In their review, English et al. also emphasize that the development and evaluation of public health adaptation strategies and projection of future health impacts of climate change depend on accurate surveillance data on climate-sensitive health outcomes (English et al. 2009). 

A framework that can be used to capture this data is a vulnerability index. A key part of building an index involves the selection of variables that represent vulnerability temporally and spatially in the population and across different population subgroups. Vulnerability, as assessed in terms of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, was used to build our community climate change knowledge about the health experiences of older adults and immigrants.

This interactive map shows you where there are areas of relatively high, medium, and low values for all three combined dimensions of vulnerability.

Three vulnerability clusters of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity are shown for the different combinations of high, medium, and low values of each dimension. Note that the mapped values are relative, and even low exposures may still negatively impact human health.

The yellow cluster identifies areas of high sensitivity, high exposure, and low adaptive capacity. This means there may be higher proportions of older adults and/or immigrants (and with less resources) living in these areas, with higher amounts of air pollution and extreme weather, and less infrastructure/services for adapting to climate change events. The yellow areas will benefit from greatly reducing the human activities that contribute to climate change and air pollution, along with greatly increasing the active living environment, access to services, and greenness of the neighbourhoods.

The brown cluster identifies areas of medium sensitivity, low exposure, and medium adaptive capacity. This means there may be lower amounts of air pollution and extreme weather, and a moderate amount of infrastructure/services for adapting to climate change events. The brown areas will benefit from increasing the active living environment, access to services, and greenness of the neighbourhoods.

The green cluster identifies areas of low sensitivity, medium exposure, and high adaptive capacity. This means there may be lower proportions of older adults and/or immigrants living in these areas, with moderate amounts of air pollution and extreme weather, and more infrastructure/services for adapting to climate change events. The green areas will benefit from reducing the human activities that contribute to climate change and air pollution.

By also viewing the individual dimension maps of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity, an amount of the relevant intervention may be assessed for a particular neighbourhood.

Understanding climate change vulnerability is an important aspect of adapting to and mitigating risks among older adults and immigrants. Therefore the vulnerability index (online tool) can be used to build capacity to inform public policy, generate innovative approaches, guide inclusive adaptation and risk mitigation strategies, reduce health risks, and promote further research.

The following links provide instructions on how to use the interactive map tool, more detail on how the dimensions and vulnerability index were created, along with an infographic and photos to further illustrate climate change and health.

Funding:  CitiesIPCC ,  Alberta EcoTrust ,  Edmonton Change for Climate ,  CEC NAPEC 

Partners:  City of Edmonton ,  Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council ,  Canadian Islamic Center,   SAGE Senior Association 

Stakeholders:  City of Edmonton , Older Adults, Immigrants

Research Team: Shelby Yamamoto, Okan Bulut, Alvaro Osornio-Vargas, Jordana Salma, Allyson Jones, Kyle Whitfield, McKenzie Tilstra, Ishwar Tiwari, Savera Aziz Ali, Heather Nixdorff, Haleema Pannu, Preetha Gopalakrishnan, Markus Gaenzle, Lihani Du Plessis, & Charlene Nielsen

Land Acknowledgement: The  University of Alberta  respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway/ Saulteaux/Anishinaabe, Inuit, and many others whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our vibrant community.

Ebi KL, Boyer C, Bowen KJ, Frumkin H, Hess J. Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Climate Change-Related Health Impacts, Risks, Adaptation, and Resilience. Int J Env Res Pub He. 2018;15(9).

English PB, Sinclair AH, Ross Z, et al. Environmental Health Indicators of Climate Change for the United States: Findings from the State Environmental Health Indicator Collaborative. Environ Health Persp. 2009;117(11):1673-1681.

Yu J, Castellani, K., Yao, A., Cawley, K., Zhao, X., Brauer, M. Mapping spatial patterns in vulnerability to climate change-related health hazards : 2019 Report. 2019;  https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0380851 .