Equity-Oriented Adaptation to Extreme Heat in California

Abstract:

Morbidity and mortality impacts of extreme heat amplified by climate change will be unequally distributed among communities given pre-existing differences in socioeconomic, health, and environmental conditions. Many governments are interested in adaptation policies that target those especially vulnerable to the risks, but there are important questions about how to effectively identify and support communities most in need of heat adaptations. Here, we use an equity-oriented adaptation program from the state of California as a case study to evaluate the implications of employing an environmental justice focused index to identify communities with adaptation needs. Our analysis considers communities at the census tract scale, as well as the patterns emerging at the regional scale. Using the current index, CalEnviroScreen 3.0, the state designates 25% of its census tracts as “disadvantaged” communities eligible for special adaptation funds. However, an additional 12.5% of the state’s communities could be considered vulnerable if two alternative adaptation-relevant vulnerability indices, the Social Vulnerability Index and the Heat Health Action Index, were considered instead. Only 13.7% of communities are vulnerable across all three vulnerability indices studied. Choice of vulnerability index shapes statewide trends in extreme heat risk and is linked to a community’s likelihood of receiving heat-related California Climate Investments (CCI) projects. Tracts that are vulnerable under the current index, but not under the heat health specific index, received 4.1 times the number of heat-related projects as tracts vulnerable under the reverse scenario. This study demonstrates important nuances relevant to implementing equity-oriented adaptation and explores the challenges, trade-offs, limitations, and opportunities in quantifying vulnerability. Its findings answer important methodological questions and inform large scale adaptation efforts that span communities with diverse climates, capacities, and population densities.