Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States
Heat waves are the deadliest type of natural hazard among all weather extremes in the United States. Given the observed and anticipated increase in heat risks associated with ongoing climate change, this study examines community vulnerability to extreme heat and the degree to which heat island mitig...
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doaj-68b97ee3e6e247b4bee690340b95cc3f2020-11-25T03:18:12ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-05-011155855810.3390/atmos11060558Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United StatesJungmin Lim0Mark Skidmore1Climate Change Research Team, Korea Energy Economics Institute, 405-11 Jongga-ro, Jung-gu, Ulsan 44543, KoreaJustin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture, 446 W. Circle Drive, Room 67, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USAHeat waves are the deadliest type of natural hazard among all weather extremes in the United States. Given the observed and anticipated increase in heat risks associated with ongoing climate change, this study examines community vulnerability to extreme heat and the degree to which heat island mitigation (HIM) actions by state/local governments reduce heat-induced fatalities. The analysis uses all heat events that occurred over the 1996–2011 period for all United States counties to model heat vulnerability. Results show that: (1) Higher income reduces extreme heat vulnerability, while poverty intensifies it; (2) living in mobile homes or rental homes heightens susceptibility to extreme heat; (3) increased heat vulnerability due to the growth of the elderly population is predicted to result in a two-fold increase in heat-related fatalities by 2030; and (4) community heat island mitigation measures reduce heat intensities and thus heat-related fatalities. Findings also show that an additional locally implemented measure reduces the annual death rate by 15%. A falsification test rules out the possibility of spurious inference on the life-saving role of heat island mitigation measures. Overall, these findings inform efforts to protect the most vulnerable population subgroups and guide future policies to counteract the growing risk of deadly heat waves.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/6/558disastervulnerabilityextreme heatheat island mitigationdevelopmentaging |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jungmin Lim Mark Skidmore |
spellingShingle |
Jungmin Lim Mark Skidmore Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States Atmosphere disaster vulnerability extreme heat heat island mitigation development aging |
author_facet |
Jungmin Lim Mark Skidmore |
author_sort |
Jungmin Lim |
title |
Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States |
title_short |
Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States |
title_full |
Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States |
title_fullStr |
Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States |
title_full_unstemmed |
Heat Vulnerability and Heat Island Mitigation in the United States |
title_sort |
heat vulnerability and heat island mitigation in the united states |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Atmosphere |
issn |
2073-4433 |
publishDate |
2020-05-01 |
description |
Heat waves are the deadliest type of natural hazard among all weather extremes in the United States. Given the observed and anticipated increase in heat risks associated with ongoing climate change, this study examines community vulnerability to extreme heat and the degree to which heat island mitigation (HIM) actions by state/local governments reduce heat-induced fatalities. The analysis uses all heat events that occurred over the 1996–2011 period for all United States counties to model heat vulnerability. Results show that: (1) Higher income reduces extreme heat vulnerability, while poverty intensifies it; (2) living in mobile homes or rental homes heightens susceptibility to extreme heat; (3) increased heat vulnerability due to the growth of the elderly population is predicted to result in a two-fold increase in heat-related fatalities by 2030; and (4) community heat island mitigation measures reduce heat intensities and thus heat-related fatalities. Findings also show that an additional locally implemented measure reduces the annual death rate by 15%. A falsification test rules out the possibility of spurious inference on the life-saving role of heat island mitigation measures. Overall, these findings inform efforts to protect the most vulnerable population subgroups and guide future policies to counteract the growing risk of deadly heat waves. |
topic |
disaster vulnerability extreme heat heat island mitigation development aging |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/6/558 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT jungminlim heatvulnerabilityandheatislandmitigationintheunitedstates AT markskidmore heatvulnerabilityandheatislandmitigationintheunitedstates |
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