Certain People and Places are More Affected
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Climate change will affect everyone, but certain people and certain places will be affected more than others:
- Some people are more exposed to climate-related health impacts, such as extreme heat, flooding from extreme weather events, and tickborne diseases. These include outdoor workers and hobbyists, homeless people, people living in flood plains, or people living on upper stories of buildings in urban areas (which can be especially hot in summer).
- Others may have increased health risk due to age (the elderly, babies, and children), having a chronic or pre-existing medical condition, or being on certain medications.
- Even people in good current health but lacking economic, social, or political resources may have less ability than others to reduce their risks, prevent impacts from occurring, and recover from impacts when they occur.
It is critical to identify individuals and communities that may be particularly affected by climate-related health impacts, and to take actions to ensure that they do not suffer disproportionately from climate impacts. For example, a home-bound elderly person living alone may be especially at risk during a heat wave or extreme weather event. Learn more about how climate change affects health
Below are resources to help you learn more about how to identify and address affected populations.
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Climate Change and Human Health: Who's Most at Risk? | This page from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines how climate change affects the health of specific populations, including children, indigenous people, those with chronic medical conditions or disabilities, workers and pregnant people. |
| Tools for Community Planners | Tools to help planners understand community-level strengths and vulnerabilities, including the Vermont Social and Heat Vulnerability Indexes. |
| Vermont Social Vulnerability Index Mapping Tool | This is a planning tool to evaluate the relative social vulnerability across the state. It can be used if there is a disease outbreak or in the event of an emergency—either natural or human-caused—to identify populations that may need more help. |
| Flood Ready Vermont: Assess Your Community’s Risk | Flood Ready Vermont is a great resource for communities and community organizations to better understand flood hazards in their area and use mapping tools to help identify areas of flood risk. |
| Climate Change, Health and Populations of Concern | Communication materials from the Environmental Protection Agency that summarize key points from the U.S. Climate and Health Assessment for eight different populations that are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. |
| Assessing Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Guide for Health Departments | This guide uses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework to help health departments prepare for and respond to climate change. |
| Climate Change, Health and Equity: Opportunities for Action | This report from the Public Health Institute explores the many ways in which climate change, health, and equity are connected. |
| Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index Technical Report | This report provides a description of and rationale for the methods used to produce the Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index. |
| Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index Summary | This is a two-page summary description of the Vermont Heat Vulnerability Index. |
| Vermont Social Vulnerability Index Summary | This is a two-page summary description of the Vermont Social Vulnerability Index. |
| Vermont Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae Tracker) | The Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae) Tracker allows the public to check recent cyanobacteria bloom status at shoreline sites and recreational swimming areas of Lake Champlain and various inland lakes in Vermont. |
| Illness and Death Due to Hot and Cold Weather | A data brief that illustrates the burden of heat-related versus cold-related illness and death in general, as well as in terms of whether or not the illness or death occurred at home. |