Heat and other severe weather events are increasing in frequency and severity across the United States. Last year alone, the United States experienced 28 disasters costing more than a billion dollars each in adverse health effects, population dislocation, and energy cutoffs. The impact of such events can heighten existing social and economic inequities, bringing long-lasting consequences to vulnerable populations and communities, if emergency preparations and procedures fail to address significant gaps in policy implementation.
Evidence-based research has shown that when natural disasters grab the attention of the public, media, and policymakers, it opens political opportunities to make changes based on new knowledge and past mistakes., And, sharing local knowledge and leadership contributes strongly to improving steps taken by US municipalities to properly address ongoing climate effects and related social justice challenges., Scenario exercise approaches and sharing of lived experience via storytelling can help policymakers identify a wider variety of potential variables, including social and economic factors that might disadvantage specific segments of the population during disaster response.
ECJS Lab research on climate resiliency and sustainability aims to generate a greater understanding of how individuals are experiencing climate events such as extreme weather, wildfires, and inundation and to explore how community preparedness can mitigate the impacts of such events. This program seeks to enhance broader sharing of experiential knowledge among communities, specialists, and practitioners to improve outcomes, especially for populations and communities that are most vulnerable to climate events.