Research

Greenspace to build resilience to climate change impacts on health: The good, the bad, and the future

Project Lead: Shujuan Li, PhD

Urban greenspaces are recognized as an effective tool for increasing climate change resilience by providing environmental, social, and public health benefits. However, unintended consequences of greenspaces have been observed, such as increased fire risks, allergens and vectors and animal hosts of infectious diseases. To effectively incorporate urban greenspaces into urban planning and design, it is critical for planners and designers to understand the broader impacts and trade-offs of urban greenspace development on public health outcomes. Specific compositions and morphologies of greenspaces may generate different environmental and health outcomes but these are poorly explored and nuanced approaches are critically lacking in the practice of urban planning. To address this knowledge gap, we examine how urban greenspace designs can increase climate change resilience and public health.

The study objectives are to:

1. evaluate the public health trade-offs of urban greenspaces with varying composition and morphology using a case study of heat-related illness and mosquito-borne disease risk in a large urban city, Phoenix, AZ;
2. develop a health effects assessment tool that can be used to predict the health impacts of proposed urban greenspace designs and plans; and
3. link scientific research and community engagement through greenspace design activities to co-produce knowledge, and elicit preferences and priorities in the impacts of greenspace design.

To achieve these goals, we integrate data on climate/weather, heat-related illnesses, mosquito abundance, and socio- demographics on urban greenspaces in Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas in Arizona. With assistance from the Integrated Data Visualization Core we analyze the associations between urban greenspaces (e.g., types, composition, and morphology) and heat- related illnesses and mosquito abundance.

We are developing an assessment tool to measure health effects. The tool is based on a machine learning model trained with data from Phoenix metropolitan area and validated based on field collections conducted within the Tucson metropolitan area. It can be used to evaluate the performance of current and future urban greenspace development by evaluating different design scenarios. It can also be used to estimate varying levels of heat resilience, potential climate change-related health effects, and to identify inequities exacerbated by inequitable distribution of greenspace.

Finally, we will develop a platform for community members to co-produce knowledge through observations of their environment and engage decision-makers and community members to develop priorities for greenspace planning.

NIH Abstract

Heat Waves during Pregnancy, Neurodevelopment, and Resiliency

Project Lead: Melissa Furlong, PhD

As heatwaves and extreme weather events increase, populations in arid lands and urban heat-promoting landscapes may be at increased risk for heat-related illnesses. Although recent evidence suggests a strong association between heatwaves during pregnancy with preterm births and birth outcomes, the downstream effects on childhood neurodevelopment remain unexplored. Animal and cellular models show that temperature has profound effects on systems that regulate neurological functioning. Cross-sectional studies suggest heat stress induces lethargy and exhaustion, and may worsen symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Prospectively, simulated heatwaves in pregnant mice induce neurological damage and oxidative stress, alter placental development, and diminish head size. In human studies, and in our pilot data of >700,000 births in Arizona, heatwaves during pregnancy are associated with lower Apgar score, which is a metric of health at birth and associated with later neurological functioning (including ADHD). However, despite this evidence, investigations of heatwaves and later neurodevelopment remain absent from the literature.

The Southwest Center on Resilience for Climate Change and Health (SCORCH), leverages the unique resources at the University of Arizona and uses three decades of extant, population-based Medicaid and birth certificates data to investigate associations of temperature exposures during pregnancy on infant health and childhood neurodevelopment (Apgar score and ADHD) over three decades (1992-2022) in the state of Arizona. We use a research-to-action framework and work with our Community Engagement Core to communicate findings to community groups, public health agencies, and municipalities.

Due to the urgent nature of climate change response, we recognize the critical importance of promoting climate change resiliency. We look at how built environment and policy may modify these climate-health relationships. [Co-I Dr. Ladd Keith has consolidated municipal policy into a heat resiliency scorecard at the census-tract level, called the Plan Integration for Resiliency Scorecard (PIRS) for Heat, which is publicly available in select cities.] There are many climate resiliency factors (e.g., transit routes, cooling centers, tree canopy, housing type) which are potentially important modifiers of heat and health. Although there is a wealth of research on these factors, they exist in disparate sources.

With the Integrated Data Visualization Core (IDVC), we consolidate data sources, link to health outcomes, and publish this data that will span multiple decades with >1million observations. This facilitates broad data usage and accelerates critical research by other investigators on how climate change mitigation and the built environment promote climate resiliency. SCORCH-supported analyses integrates protected health data with public data that will be developed into online dashboards built by the Integrated Data Visualization Core.

NIH Abstract