Use of Geographic Information Systems to Spatially Examine the Vulnerability of Underserved Populations to Climate Change

Background: Recent studies have shown that many underserved populations live in areas that may put them at higher risks of exposure to social and environmental hazards. Climate change may exacerbate these environmental disparities. The purpose of this project is to explore the use of Geographic Information Systems to assess areas that may be vulnerable to climate change across the United States.

Methods: ArcGIS 9.3 was employed to create vulnerability scores for areas that may be impacted by climate change at the county level and census tract level in the United States, using various social, environmental, and health indicators. Data on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status was obtained from the US Census. Data on pollution sources and levels was obtained from the EPA. Health data were obtained from the CDC. The Moran's I statistic was also used to assess any significant vulnerability clusters.

Results: The highest vulnerability scores were found for counties and census tracts in the South, particularly the Deep South, and in metropolitan areas in the Northeast and Midwest. The lowest scores were found in parts of the Western US.

Conclusions: These findings provide insight into the areas of the country that have large populations of underserved individuals that may be vulnerable to climate change. The use of census tract data helped to improve the spatial resolution of the vulnerability maps. By adding more physical and natural hazards data, we will be able to target areas that need to adopt effective climate change related mitigation and adaptation strategies.