Climate change and social vulnerability in the United States: a focus on six impacts

This report contributes to a better understanding of the degree to which four socially vulnerable populations—defined based on income, educational attainment, race and ethnicity, and age, may be more exposed to the highest impacts of climate change in six categories: Air Quality and Health; Extreme Temperature and Health; Extreme Temperature and Labor; Coastal Flooding and Traffic; Coastal Flooding and Property; and Inland Flooding and Property

Specifically, the analyses presented in this report first identify the areas in the contiguous United States (U.S.) where impacts are projected to be the highest under future global temperature change and sea level rise. For example, the Extreme Temperature and Labor analysis estimates where weather-exposed workers are projected to lose the most labor hours due to high temperature days, and the Coastal Flooding and Property analysis estimates where the highest percentage of property is project-ed to be inundated due to sea level rise. Next, the analyses estimate the likelihood that those who are socially vulnerable live in these areas compared to those who are not. This determination is based on current demographic distributions and projected changes in climate hazards under different levels of global warming and sea level rise. The result is a consistent measure of the disproportionate risk to socially vulnerable individuals, which can be com-pared across groups, regions, and impact categories.

Due to data limitations, the analyses are limited to the contiguous U.S. Future work will enhance both the coverage of important areas such as Hawai’i and Alaska and will explore additional impacts. Furthermore, additional dimensions of social vulnerability (e.g., gender and linguistic isolation) are not included and warrant additional analysis.