Why are the poor most impacted by climate change?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
July 21, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Bilal Moussa, 34, smokes near the waters off Tripoli that almost swallowed him -- but he vows to try again to flee Lebanon's poverty - Copyright AFP/File Anthony WALLACE

The recent spell of warm weather and, in some cases, scorching temperatures, may have been hotter than reported for those living in underserved urban areas, especially within parts of the U.S.

This is because in more impoverished areas within cities such locales are typically hotter than their wealthier neighbourhoods. Dubbed “urban heat islands,” these communities have more buildings, less vegetation and somewhat higher population density, which combine to produce the heating effect.

New research from Duke University has shown that citizen science tools used to gauge heat in these urban areas likely understate the problem of heat islands. The researchers also suggest a statistical method to improve estimates of urban heat.

The research appears in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

“The poorest areas of a city also tend to have the fewest number of weather stations to pull data from, so if we’re going to rely on their data, we either need to add more ground sensors or try to adjust for the missing data,” said Zach Calhoun, at Duke.

Calhoun adds: “While having accurate temperature data might be important for residents going on their day-to-day business, it’s especially important for policymakers relying on the data to make well-informed decisions.”

He follows up with following observations about climate extremes and health: “Extreme heat also leads to poor air quality, and the resulting impacts on respiratory and cardiovascular health should be monitored for the benefit of all,” added Marily Black, public health scientist for Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) Chemical Insights Research Institute and coauthor of the paper. “This is especially true for the vulnerable in urban areas such as children and those who are economically disadvantaged.”

These data come from the popular weather website Weather Underground, which was founded in 1995 as an offshoot of the University of Michigan’s internet weather database. The app works by pulling data not just from official government weather stations, which are relatively sparse, but from weather stations set up by citizen scientists essentially in their own gardens.

Today, Weather Underground receives data from more than 250,000 of these personal weather stations. In 2012, it was acquired by The Weather Channel, which also relies on this network of private stations.

While not exorbitantly expensive, personal weather stations cost several hundred dollars each. As one might expect, they’re more commonly purchased and set up in wealthier neighbourhoods than in poorer ones. And that can cause issues when relying on a large number of them for weather information.

The research appears in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, titled “Refining Citizen Climate Science: Addressing Preferential Sampling for Improved Estimates of Urban Heat.”