GH023
Human Dimensions of Drought: Water, Health, and Community Vulnerability
Session ID#: 249477
Session Description:
Droughts are escalating in frequency and severity, exposing critical vulnerabilities in public health systems and water infrastructure. Recent events, such as the 2023 saltwater intrusion into southeast Louisiana’s municipal water supplies during low Mississippi River flow, underscore how drought can immediately threaten safe drinking water and increase health risks. This session invites interdisciplinary research examining how drought contributes to health impacts—whether through water quality degradation, service disruptions, heat-health interactions, or increased disease vulnerability. We encourage work that investigates drivers of risk, including structural inequities, policy gaps, and climate-related stressors. Submissions may focus on empirical findings, methodological innovations, monitoring approaches, or community-level responses that strengthen resilience. Case studies, surveillance data, and evaluations of mitigation efforts are welcome. We aim to highlight emerging knowledge to inform more holistic drought preparedness, integrating perspectives from public health, environmental science, and water management to better protect communities in an era of compounding climate threats.
Co-Sponsor(s):
Index Terms:
0230 Impacts of climate change: human health [GEOHEALTH]
1812 Drought [HYDROLOGY]
1817 Extreme events [HYDROLOGY]
4330 Vulnerability [NATURAL HAZARDS]
Primary Convener: Azar Abadi, University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences Department, Birmingham, AL, United States
Conveners: Mark D. Svoboda, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, National Drought Mitigation Center, Lincoln, United States and Jesse E Bell, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States
Deaths associated with drought, wildfire smoke, and their concurrent added effects in the contiguous United States (Invited) (1865764)
Ying Hu1,2, Lingzhi Chu1,2, Pin Wang3, Azar Abadi4, Minghao Qiu5,6 and Kai Chen7,8, (1)Yale University, Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, New Haven, United States, (2)Yale University, Yale School of Public Health, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, New Haven, United States, (3)University of Maryland, School of Public Health, Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, College Park, United States, (4)University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences Department, Birmingham, AL, United States, (5)Stony Brook University, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook, NY, United States, (6)Stony Brook University, Program in Public Health, Stony Brook, NY, United States, (7)Yale University, Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, New Haven, CT, United States, (8)Yale University, Yale School of Public Health, Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, New Haven, CT, United States
Drought, Food Security, and Coping Strategies: Characterizing the variety of household responses in Namibia (1870638)
Leah Poole-Selters1, Selma Lendelvo2, Komal Rathod3 and Erin Coughlan de Perez3, (1)Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States, (2)University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia, (3)Tufts University, Boston, United States
Drought and Respiratory Outcomes: A Systematic Search Scoping Review (1924281)
Azar Abadi, University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences Department, Birmingham, AL, United States, Atiyeh Najafighodousi, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, Tehran, Iran, Matthew Gribble, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States, Arnab Ghosh, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, New York, United States and Hamid Moradkhani, The University of Alabama, Center for Complex Hydrosystems Research, Tuscaloosa, United States
Regional-level Associations of Drought with COPD Mortality in the United States (Invited) (1926741)
Kelli Gribben1, Kyei Afari2, Yeongjin Gwon2, Haiyue Li1, Babak Jalalzadeh Fard1, Jesse D. Berman3 and Jesse E Bell1, (1)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States, (2)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Biostatistics, Omaha, United States, (3)University of Minnesota Twin Cities, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences, Minneapolis, United States
A Multi-Indicator Quantitative Analysis of Drought Effects on PM2.5 in the U.S (1939184)
Haiyue Li, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, UNITED STATES, Kelli Gribben, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, United States, Jesse D. Berman, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences, Minneapolis, United States, Yeongjin Gwon, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Biostatistics, Omaha, United States, Azar Abadi, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States, Brian Wardlow, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, United States, Daniel Tong, George Mason University, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic & Earth Sciences, Fairfax, United States and Jesse E Bell, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States
Precipitation conditions as a predictor of nitrate contamination in private wells across Iowa (Invited) (1968574)
Richard V Remigio1, Maria Kamenetsky2, Siddhi Munde, MSc3, Paula Masi Fleytas4, Dana W Kolpin5, Jesse E Bell6, Mary Ward2 and Laura Beane Freeman2, (1)National Institutes of Health, Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States, (2)National Institutes of Health, Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, United States, (3)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States, (4)University of Maryland College Park, Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, College Park, United States, (5)USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center, Iowa City, IA, United States, (6)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States
Climate Sensitivity of Invasive Fungal Sinusitis Mortality in U.S. Counties, 2003–2021 (1996248)
Raheleh Mohammadi, MPH, PhD (c)1,2, Yeongjin Gwon3, Kristina Kintziger4, Jocelyn Herstein4 and Jesse E Bell5, (1)Rollins College, Health Professions, Winter Park, United States, (2)University of Nebraska at Omaha, Medical Science Interdepartmental Deparment, Omaha, United States, (3)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Biostatistics, Omaha, United States, (4)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Environmental, Agricultural, and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States, (5)University of Nebraska Medical Center, Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health, Omaha, United States
