How Data Can Support Our Local Communities During the Climate Crisis
By: Kristin Hong, Undergraduate Student Intern
As our world is rapidly changing, climate change is becoming an issue of increasing urgency. This is especially concerning given its effects on factors that impact health. For example, worsening air quality, increased risk of environmental emergencies, and impacts to our food systems are a few of many consequences of climate change that make it a public health concern, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities. As such, opportunities arise to explore the equity implications of climate change and health through data.
Data is foundational to climate action, informing our understanding of the health impacts of climate change as well as measures taken towards building climate justice and health equity. Using data to examine these health impacts and risks is instrumental in identifying opportunities for action to increase the capacity of communities to adapt to a changing environment. Working towards building adaptive capacity necessitates prioritizing community values and ensuring that data and actions support community needs in preparing for emerging hazards, orienting climate action towards equity, and supporting community resilience in the face of climate change. Building this resilience, in turn, can promote more equitable health outcomes for communities. With this in mind, we can strengthen data and data practices as tools for equitable climate action that aims to reduce health disparities and collectively commit to accountability and justice in our communities.
Building equitable data practices for climate action
Stories are told through data that have the power to shape narratives of climate change and communities. The practice of data storytelling humanizes data, bridging it with personal experiences and broadening perspectives to center community. Through data storytelling, narratives of climate change can be shaped such that we understand who carries the burden of the climate crisis, what needs attention in our communities, and where opportunities exist for change. Community voices are amplified with these practices and become the leading forces of climate action and equity work.
To work toward community resilience, it is critical that community needs are centered in climate action and the data that drive it. Using practices that engage and uphold community values are necessary to facilitate data storytelling. Practicing co-learning and community-based participatory methods, for example, build strong relationships between data and community, thereby grounding the data as well as subsequent action in equity.
Figure 1: Participatory methods in action - results of a collaborative heat mapping project from 2020 revealed inequities.
Heat mapping is a tool for understanding community impacts and disparities from heat waves by visualizing areas of the county burdened by heat. When involving participatory methods, it can help build resilient communities. This heat mapping project in 2020 was developed through collaborations between King County, City of Seattle, and community volunteers, and identified opportunities for community partnerships to prepare for future climate emergencies.
Climate change continues to exacerbate inequities and health disparities through disproportionate effects on many historically disadvantaged groups. We need community empowerment and leadership to achieve collective climate goals, starting with data stewardship that focuses on accessibility and transparency.
Community leadership in King County for climate justice
Communities that have historically faced inequities are most impacted by climate change and possess unique experiences and perspectives that add value to climate action. One example is the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, in which majority Latinx and Khmer communities experienced significant flooding from the Duwamish River during December 2022. Community organizations such as the Duwamish River Community Coalition, Villa Comunitaria, and the Khmer Community of Seattle King County were instrumental in the flooding response, providing support to impacted residents through food assistance, clean-up, housing, and more.
As our climate continues to change, situations much like this flooding will become more common. Not only must community efforts be mobilized to implement equitable and effective solutions, but they are also integral in foundational data work that builds community resilience. In the case of South Park, community organizations played a key role in meeting residential needs post-flooding by door knocking to hear directly from neighbors, collecting community data to inform actions to combat the harms of flooding. This work aligns with other participatory data-gathering methods that work towards equitable framing and prevention of future climate emergencies in King County. For example, current planning for climate resilience in the Duwamish Valley is done through collecting data on community priorities. These data tell the stories of South Park and the Duwamish Valley, indicating where opportunities exist for action as well as what can be done in the face of climate challenges.
Figure 2: The results of the Seattle Assessment of Public Health Emergency Response (SASPER) Survey.
These results revealed concerns and priorities for the local communities of the Duwamish Valley prior to the flood event. Preparing for and responding to these concerns builds community resilience and adaptive capacity to resist climate change.
What’s next?
The use of community-oriented data to understand exposures, health impacts, and priorities is necessary to develop the capacity of communities to adapt and persist amid climate crises. However, there is still much to learn about how we can best work towards climate justice through building community resilience with data. Continuing to reflect upon equitable data practices and working to center community in climate action will be fundamental in attaining a sustainable future for all.