The tree cover and temperature disparity in US urbanized areas: Quantifying the association with income across 5,723 communities

NPCC4: Advancing climate justice in climate adaptation strategies for New York City

The Advancing Climate Justice in Climate Adaptation Strategies for New York City (Equity) chapter of NPCC4 builds on the findings and recommendations from NPCC3 to identify additional metrics and adaptation efforts that can advance climate justice. First, the chapter assesses the efforts of the City to incorporate equity into climate adaptation efforts since NPCC3 and describes how the communities profiled in NPCC3 have implemented and evolved their approaches to addressing the intersecting climate, environmental, and social stressors that they continue to face. Second, it adds to the historical context of climate inequity by linking the bioregion's history of colonization, land dispossession, and slavery building on emerging evidence demonstrating how historical and contemporary land use patterns and decisions shape present and future climate risks and social vulnerability, including climate displacement. Third, it recommends a NYC-focused metric to identify areas of the city that are most vulnerable to the intersection of climate hazards, social vulnerability, and displacement. Finally, it highlights approaches to more equitable and just climate adaptation drawn from local, national, and international examples. As such, the chapter offers best practices that prioritize community-driven climate resilience approaches that are integrated, more equitable, and racially just.

Large-scale determinants of street tree growth rates across an urban environment

Urban street trees offer cities critical environmental and social benefits. In New York City (NYC), a decadal census of every street tree is conducted to help understand and manage the urban forest. However, it has previously been impossible to analyze growth of an individual tree because of uncertainty in tree location. This study overcomes this limitation using a three-step alignment process for identifying individual trees with ZIP Codes, address, and species instead of map coordinates. We estimated individual growth rates for 126,362 street trees (59 species and 19% of 2015 trees) using the difference between diameter at breast height (DBH) from the 2005 and 2015 tree censuses. The tree identification method was verified by locating and measuring the DBH of select trees and measuring a set of trees annually for over 5 years. We examined determinants of tree growth rates and explored their spatial distribution. In our newly created NYC tree growth database, fourteen species have over 1000 unique trees. The three most abundant tree species vary in growth rates; London Planetree (n = 32,056, 0.163 in/yr) grew the slowest compared to Honeylocust (n = 15,967, 0.356 in/yr), and Callery Pear (n = 15,902, 0.334 in/yr). Overall, Silver Linden was the fastest growing species (n = 1,149, 0.510 in/yr). Ordinary least squares regression that incorporated biological factors including size and the local urban form indicated that species was the major factor controlling growth rates, and tree stewardship had only a small effect. Furthermore, tree measurements by volunteer community scientists were as accurate as those made by NYC staff. Examining city wide patterns of tree growth indicates that areas with a higher Social Vulnerability Index have higher than expected growth rates. Continued efforts in street tree planting should utilize known growth rates while incorporating community voices to better provide long-term ecosystem services across NYC.

Effects of extreme weather on health in underserved communities

Increased fossil fuel use has increased carbon dioxide concentrations leading to global warming and climate change with increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as thunderstorms, wildfires, droughts, and heat waves. These changes increase the risk of adverse health effects for all human beings. However, these experiences do not affect everyone equally. Underserved communities, including people of color, the elderly, people living with chronic conditions, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, have greater vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. These vulnerabilities are a result of multiple factors such as disparities in health care, lower educational status, and systemic racism. These social inequities are exacerbated by extreme weather events, which act as threat multipliers increasing disparities in health outcomes. It is clear that without human action, these global temperatures will continue to increase to unbearable levels creating an existential crisis. There is now global consensus that climate change is caused by anthropogenic activity and that actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change are urgently needed. The 2015 Paris Accord was the first truly global commitment that set goals to limit further warming. It also aimed to implement equity in action, founded on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Meeting these goals requires individual, community, organizational, national, and global cooperation. Health care professionals, often in the frontline with firsthand knowledge of the health impacts of climate change, can play a key role in advocating for just and equitable climate change adaptation and mitigation policies.

NPCC4: New York City climate risk information 2022-observations and projections

New York City (NYC) faces many challenges in the coming decades due to climate change and its interactions with social vulnerabilities and uneven urban development patterns and processes. This New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) report contributes to the Panel's mandate to advise the city on climate change and provide timely climate risk information that can inform flexible and equitable adaptation pathways that enhance resilience to climate change. This report presents up-to-date scientific information as well as updated sea level rise projections of record. We also present a new methodology related to climate extremes and describe new methods for developing the next generation of climate projections for the New York metropolitan region. Future work by the Panel should compare the temperature and precipitation projections presented in this report with a subset of models to determine the potential impact and relevance of the "hot model" problem. NPCC4 expects to establish new projections-of-record for precipitation and temperature in 2024 based on this comparison and additional analysis. Nevertheless, the temperature and precipitation projections presented in this report may be useful for NYC stakeholders in the interim as they rely on the newest generation of global climate models.

A Heat Emergency: Urban Heat Exposure and Access to Refuge in Richmond, VA

The urban heat island effect exacerbates independent climate change-induced shifts toward longer, stronger, and more frequent heat extremes. Environmental inequity, driven by a history of racially motivated urban planning policies, has led particular demographics to bear the worst impacts of urban heat exposure and thus also climate change. These impacts cause adverse health outcomes in the form of heat emergencies. Through a novel demographic and spatial analysis of heat-related illness Emergency Medical Services data from Richmond, Virginia, this study investigates the relationships between heat health emergencies and intra-urban heat islands quantified through three heat exposure metrics. We also evaluate the accessibility of built refuge from urban heat in the form of public transit infrastructure, libraries, and government cooling centers in relation to these emergencies. We found that heat emergencies are inequitably distributed among racial, age, and socioeconomic groups in Richmond, particularly among residents identified as Male, Black or African American, 50+ years old, and experiencing mental health, intoxication, and/or homelessness. We found significant associations between the location of these heat emergencies and urban heat islands as estimated from remotely-sensed surface and community science-derived air temperature metrics, but not a co-estimated heat index. We also found that available refuge facilities are insufficiently located to protect individuals with reduced mobility across areas with the highest number of heat-related health emergencies. Community involvement in the mitigation and management of extreme heat threats, especially for those disproportionately impacted, is necessary to decrease the number of summertime heat illnesses.

Social Justice, Community Engagement, and Undergraduate STEM Education: Participatory Science as a Teaching Tool

Social justice is increasingly being seen as relevant to the science curriculum. We examine the intersection of participatory science, social justice, and higher education in the United States to investigate how instructors can teach about social justice and enhance collaborations to work toward enacting social justice. Participatory science approaches, like those that collect data over large geographic areas, can be particularly useful for teaching students about social justice. Conversely, local-scale approaches that integrate students into community efforts can create powerful collaborations to help facilitate social justice. We suggest a variety of large-scale databases, platforms, and portals that could be used as starting points to address a set of learning objectives about social justice. We also describe local-scale participatory science approaches with a social justice focus, developed through academic and community partnerships. Considerations for implementing participatory science with undergraduates are discussed, including cautions about the necessary time investment, cultural competence, and institutional support. These approaches are not always appropriate but can provide compelling learning experiences in the correct circumstances.

Hidalgo B, Aroke EN. Neighborhood Environment and Epigenetic Age: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Interest in how the neighborhood environment impacts age-related health conditions has been increasing for decades. Epigenetic changes are environmentally derived modifications to the genome that alter the way genes function-thus altering health status. Epigenetic age, a biomarker for biological age, has been shown to be a useful predictor of several age-related health conditions. Consequently, its relation to the neighborhood environment has been the focus of a growing body of literature.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to describe the scope of the evidence on the relationship between neighborhood environmental characteristics and epigenetic age.

METHODS

Using scoping review following methods established by Arksey and O'Malley, we first defined our research questions and searched the literature in PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE. Next, we selected the literature to be included, and finally, we analyzed and summarized the information.

RESULTS

Nine articles met the inclusion criteria. Most studies examined deprivation as the neighborhood characteristic of interest. While all studies were observational in design, the articles included diverse participants, including men and women, adults and children, and multiple ethnicities. Results demonstrated a relationship between the neighborhood environment and epigenetic age, whether the characteristic of interest is socioeconomic or physical.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, studies concluded there was a relationship between neighborhood characteristics and epigenetic age, whether the characteristic of interest was socioeconomic or physical. However, findings varied based on how the neighborhood characteristic and/or epigenetic age was measured. Furthermore, a paucity of investigations on physical characteristics was noticeable and warrants increased attention.

Trees, Climate Change, and Health: An Urban Planning, Greening and Implementation Perspective

The In Conversation: Boundary, Spanners, Thinkers and Policy Actors Round Table Series provides a platform for researchers, policy actors, and implementation experts to elevate discussion on emerging issues, present new and upcoming research, and facilitate conversations around impacts and possible solutions. This brief report, on trees, climate change, and health, reflects a conversation between the authors of this paper, along with supporting literature. It explores the potential of green spaces and trees as a viable strategy to address climate change challenges and simultaneously improve population health, well-being, and health equity. In particular, it highlights the public health benefits of trees and green space, the challenges faced in urban areas, and opportunities for the protection, maintenance and regeneration of urban green space.

Determining spatial disparities and similarities regarding heat exposure, green provision, and social structure of urban areas - A study on the city district level in the Ruhr area, Germany

Heat islands and ongoing urbanization make cities places where the negative impacts of global climate change on society are becoming increasingly evident. Especially the interplay and potential multiplication of heat, low green provision, and the presence of socially deprived urban dwellers constitutes complex challenges. Emerging climate injustices and potential health issues require a powerful counter-reaction in form of adaptation action. For our study, we consider eight cities located in the densely populated and historically highly segregated Ruhr area in Western Germany, which is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe with a heterogeneous distribution of socio-spatial problems, economic potential, heat stress, and green infrastructures. We use land surface temperature (LST), data on green provision (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and social indicators to reveal the relationships between these indicators on the city district level (n = 275). Therefore, we first analyze the data regarding spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I) and clustering (Gi*) before calculating study area wide and city specific correlations between the three factors regarded. Finally, we conduct a cluster analysis (k-means) to disclose similar areas with or without multiple burdens. Our results show distinct disparities in heat exposure, green availability, and social status between city districts of the study area. We find strong negative correlations between LST and NDVI as well as between NDVI and social status. The relationship between LST and our social indicator remains ambiguous, affirming the necessity of further detailed studies. The cluster analysis furthermore allows for the visualization and classification of districts featuring similar characteristics regarding the researched components. We can discern in parts pronounced climate injustice in the studied cities, with a majority of people living in unfavorable environmental and socio-economic conditions. Our analysis supports governments and those responsible for urban planning in addressing climate injustice in the future.

Geospatial techniques for monitoring and mitigating climate change and its effects on human health

This article begins by briefly examining the multitude of ways in which climate and climate change affect human health and wellbeing. It then proceeds to present a quick overview of how geospatial data, methods and tools are playing key roles in the measurement, analysis and modelling of climate change and its effects on human health. Geospatial techniques are proving indispensable for making more accurate assessments and estimates, predicting future trends more reliably, and devising more optimised climate change adaptation and mitigation plans.

Pandemic urban development is leading us away from nature

Recovery plans in Europe in the COVID-19 pandemic era have stimulated construction-led development, which has eclipsed nature-based agendas in terms of scale, size, and policy. One estimate is that only 0.3% of spending on urban infrastructure globally is directed towards various nature-based solutions and other ecosystem efforts supporting human well-being. In the future we will urgently need to employ nature-based approaches in crisis management for the power and potential of nature to be fully employed in pursuit of urban recovery. We strongly recommend that nature-based approaches be an explicit requirement to secure funding for future recovery plans.

Racial Differences in Positive Airway Pressure Adherence in the Treatment of Sleep Apnea

Although data are limited, studies suggest on average lower positive airway pressure use in Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) compared with Whites in most but not all studies. Most of these observational studies are certainly limited by confounding by socioeconomic status and other unmeasured factors that likely contribute to differences. The etiology of these observed disparities is likely multifactorial, due in part to financial limitations, differences in sleep opportunity, poor sleep quality due to environmental disruptions, and so forth. These disparities in sleep health are likely related to chronic inequities, including experiences of racism, neighborhood features, structural, and contextual factors. Dedicated studies focusing on understanding adherence in BIPOC are lacking. Further research is needed to understand determinants of PAP use in BIPOC subjects and identify feasible interventions to improve sleep health and reduce sleep apnea treatment disparities.

Forest structure and composition alleviate human thermal stress

Current climate change aggravates human health hazards posed by heat stress. Forests can locally mitigate this by acting as strong thermal buffers, yet potential mediation by forest ecological characteristics remains underexplored. We report over 14 months of hourly microclimate data from 131 forest plots across four European countries and compare these to open-field controls using physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) to reflect human thermal perception. Forests slightly tempered cold extremes, but the strongest buffering occurred under very hot conditions (PET >35°C), where forests reduced strong to extreme heat stress day occurrence by 84.1%. Mature forests cooled the microclimate by 12.1 to 14.5°C PET under, respectively, strong and extreme heat stress conditions. Even young plantations reduced those conditions by 10°C PET. Forest structure strongly modulated the buffering capacity, which was enhanced by increasing stand density, canopy height and canopy closure. Tree species composition had a more modest yet significant influence: that is, strongly shade-casting, small-leaved evergreen species amplified cooling. Tree diversity had little direct influences, though indirect effects through stand structure remain possible. Forests in general, both young and mature, are thus strong thermal stress reducers, but their cooling potential can be even further amplified, given targeted (urban) forest management that considers these new insights.

Gridded land use data for the conterminous United States 1940-2015

Multiple aspects of our society are reflected in how we have transformed land through time. However, limited availability of historical-spatial data at fine granularity have hindered our ability to advance our understanding of the ways in which land was developed over the long-term. Using a proprietary, national housing and property database, which is a result of large-scale, industry-fuelled data harmonization efforts, we created publicly available sequences of gridded surfaces that describe built land use progression in the conterminous United States at fine spatial (i.e., 250 m × 250 m) and temporal resolution (i.e., 1 year - 5 years) between the years 1940 and 2015. There are six land use classes represented in the data product: agricultural, commercial, industrial, residential-owned, residential-income, and recreational facilities, as well as complimentary uncertainty layers informing the users about quantifiable components of data uncertainty. The datasets are part of the Historical Settlement Data Compilation for the U.S. (HISDAC-US) and enable the creation of new knowledge of long-term land use dynamics, opening novel avenues of inquiry across multiple fields of study.

Urban landcover differentially drives day and nighttime air temperature across a semi-arid city

Semi-arid urban environments are undergoing an increase in both average air temperatures and in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events. Within cities, different composition and densities of urban landcovers (ULC) influence local air temperatures, either mitigating or increasing heat. Currently, understanding how combinations of ULC influence air temperature at the block to neighborhood scale is necessary for heat mitigation plans, and yet limited due to the complexities integrating high-resolution ULC with spatial and temporally high-resolution microclimate data. We quantify how ULC influences air temperature at 60 m resolution for day and nighttime climate normals and extreme heat conditions by integrating microclimate sensor data sensor and high-resolution (1 m²) ULC for Denver, Colorado's urban core. We derive ULC drivers of air temperature using a structural equation model, then use a random forest algorithm to predict air temperatures for 30-year climate normals and an extreme heat condition. We find that, in conjunction with other ULC, urban tree canopy reduces daytime air temperatures (-0.026 °C per % cover), and the combination of impervious surfaces and buildings increases daytime air temperature (0.021 °C per % cover). Compared to daytime hours, nighttime irrigated turf temperature cooling effects are increased from being non-significant to -0.022 °C per % cover, while tree canopy effects are reduced from -0.026 °C during the day to -0.016 °C at night. Overall, ULC drives ~17% and 25% of local air temperature during the day and night, respectively. ULC influence on daytime air temperatures is altered in extreme heat events, both depending on the ULC type and time of day. Our findings inform urban planners seeking to identify potential hot and cool spots within a semi-arid city and mitigate high urban air temperatures through using ULC within larger urban climate mitigation strategies.

Invited Commentary: There's No Place Like Home-Integrating a Place-Based Approach to Understanding Sleep

Light exposure at night impedes sleep and shifts the circadian clock. An extensive body of literature has linked sleep deprivation and circadian misalignment with cardiac disease, cancer, mental health disorders, and other chronic illnesses, as well as more immediate risks, such as motor vehicle crashes and occupational injuries. In this issue of the Journal, Zhong et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2022;191(9):1532-1539) build on this literature, finding that in a cohort of 50,000 California teachers, artificial light at night, noise, green space, and air pollution were all associated with sleep disturbances. Light, noise, air pollution, and the lack of green space are problems inequitably distributed across the population, concentrated among vulnerable populations in inner cities. Zhong et al. provide novel data on the manner in which these local environmental exposures drive sleep deprivation. Future research should explore the degree to which place-based disparities in sleep in turn drive disparities in short and long-term health. Addressing home-based sleep disparities could be an avenue to addressing systemic racism and achieving environmental justice.

Assessing the influence of urban greenness and green stormwater infrastructure on hydrology from satellite remote sensing

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), which includes features like rain gardens, constructed wetlands, or urban tree canopy, is now widely recognized as a means to reduce urban runoff impacts and meet municipal water quality permit requirements. Many co-benefits of GSI are related to increased vegetative cover, which can be measured with satellite imagery via spectral indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). In urban landscapes, there remain critical gaps in understanding how urban greenness and GSI influence hydrology. Here, we quantify these relationships to assess the feasibility of tracking the effectiveness of urban greening for improving downstream hydrologic conditions. We combined hydrologic data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gauges with an NDVI time series (1985-2019) derived from Landsat satellite imagery, and synthesis of GSI implementation data from a set of 372 urbanized watersheds across the United States. We used a multivariate panel modeling approach to account for spatial and time varying factors (rainfall, temperature, urban cover expansion) in an effort to isolate the relationships of interest. After accounting for expansion of urban boundaries, only 32 watersheds (9%) showed significant greenness trends, a majority of which were reductions. Urban greenness had significant influences on downstream flow responses, so that on average, a 10% greenness increase showed a corresponding reduction of total flow (-3.8%), flow variance (-7.7%), peak flows (-4.7%), high flows (-7.6%), flashiness (-2.2%), and high flow frequency (-1.5%); and a corresponding increase in baseflow (4.3%). For a subset of these watersheds for which GSI data were available (n = 48), the level of GSI implementation showed a significant, but weak influence on urban greenness with a 20% increase in BMP density corresponding to a greenness increase of 0.9%. The study results may support valuation and verification of GSI co-benefits in urbanized landscapes at the watershed scale.

A pediatrician's guide to climate change-informed primary care

Despite the urgency of the climate crisis and mounting evidence linking climate change to child health harms, pediatricians do not routinely engage with climate change in the office. Each primary care visit offers opportunities to screen for and support children burdened with risks to health that are increasingly intense due to climate change. Routine promotion of healthy behaviors also aligns with some needed-and powerful-solutions to the climate crisis. For some patients, including those engaged in athletics, those with asthma and allergies, or those with complex healthcare needs, preparedness for environmental risks and disasters worsened by climate change is a critical component of disease prevention and management. For all patients, anticipatory guidance topics that are already mainstays of pediatric best practices are related closely to needed guidance to keep children safe and promote health in the setting of compounding risks due to climate change. By considering climate change in routine care, pediatricians will be updating practice to align with evidence-based literature and better serving patients. This article provides a framework for pediatricians to provide climate-informed primary care during the structure of pediatric well child and other visits.