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Components of Population Vulnerability and Their Relationship With Climate-Sensitive Health Threats

  • Climate Change and Health (J Semenza, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Climate change is increasingly being framed as risks that will impact the poorest and most vulnerable communities among us. This has led to more efforts to estimate climate change risks across populations and in the context of human health and health equity. We describe the public health dimensions of climate vulnerability—exposure, population sensitivity, and adaptive capacity—and explore how these dimensions can modify population health impacts and their distribution. An overview of health disparities associated with specific climate risks is presented, and we offer potential solutions grounded in equitable urban development and improved characterization of climate vulnerabilities.

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Acknowledgments

The views expressed in this article are not the official views of the California Department of Public Health or the Public Health Institute.

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  1. California Department of Public Health, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA, 94804, USA

    P. B. English

  2. Public Health Institute, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA, 94804, USA

    M. J. Richardson

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English, P.B., Richardson, M.J. Components of Population Vulnerability and Their Relationship With Climate-Sensitive Health Threats. Curr Envir Health Rpt 3, 91–98 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-016-0076-1

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