Climate-related extreme events, such as heat waves, drought and wildfires, continue to unfairly affect economically and socially marginalized people and communities, according to a new Oregon Health Authority (OHA) report.
OHA’s Climate and Health in Oregon 2021-2022 report, released today, affirms findings of its 2020 report: that events linked to climate change affect communities of color, Tribal communities, those living with lower incomes, older adults, people with disabilities, people who live or work outdoors, and under- or uninsured people more than other populations.
“Heat waves occur from time to time as a result of natural variability. But human-caused climate change, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to the intensity of extreme weather events here and around the globe,” Oregon Public Health Director Rachael Banks explained in the report. “Due to climate change, nearly the entire state will need to prepare for steady increases in extreme heat over the next several decades.”
Banks said the 2021 heat wave is part of a “web of climate risks” that include worsening drought conditions, more wildfires and more flooding events. “These hazards increase the likelihood of deaths and hospitalizations in our state, but we can, and must, act now to prevent the worst outcomes,” she said.
Since 2014, when OHA published its first significant report linking climate change and health, the agency has worked to document evidence of the need to protect people in Oregon from increasing climate-related threats. OHA issued its first annual Climate and Health in Oregon report in 2020, and today is releasing a combined report for both 2021 and 2022. Last year’s report was not completed due to staffing issues related to the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Climate and Health in Oregon 2021-2022 report highlights several high-profile extreme climate events that triggered spikes in hospitalizations and deaths in Oregon over the last two years:
- Two heat waves during summer 2021 caused more than 100 deaths, including an agricultural worker in St. Paul and a construction worker in Hillsboro. Most of those who died were older adults, isolated or living with low incomes.
- Heat-related illness visits to Oregon emergency departments and urgent care centers between May and August 2021 jumped 242% from 2020. Nearly 60% of patients seen for heat-related illnesses in 2021 lived in ZIP codes with a median household income below $50,000.
- For 2021 and 2022 combined, Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic and other non-white populations had a disproportionately high percentage of heat-related deaths compared with non-heat related deaths.
- Wildfire smoke in central and southern Oregon in 2021 caused people in Bend, Klamath Falls and Medford to experience a combined 83 days with air that was at or above levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, compared with 41 days in 2020 and 11 days in 2022. Several counties also saw 20% higher asthma-like illness visits to emergency departments and urgent care centers compared with 2020.
- Severe drought, which can have long-term effects on agriculture as well as drinking and recreational water quality, affected almost every county during 2021 and 2022. All Oregon counties had some area in the abnormally dry to extreme drought range as of September 2022; more than a quarter of the state experienced exceptional drought conditions at some point in the last year.
- In November 2022 in Klamath County, many homes had no running water, as 461 domestic wells went dry or were slow to refill. Thirteen public water systems in 2021 experienced low water supply, compared with eight between 2016 and 2020. In 2022, there were 14 public water systems experiencing low water supply.
- The report noted that reduced access to water and poor water quality can lead to food and nutrition insufficiency, acute and chronic respiratory complications and reduced sanitation and hygiene. In addition, aquatic life and waterway health become stressed as the hot, dry conditions benefit harmful algal blooms that release toxic cyanobacteria to recreational and drinking water sources.
But the report points to signs of hope. They include governor-supported investments by the Oregon Legislature over the last three years to build climate and health resilience, such as:
- Public health modernization, which directed more than $43 million to community-based organizations and local public health authorities to address community-identified priorities, including environmental health risks and climate adaptation strategies.
- The Healthy Homes grant program within OHA that provides $10 million in funding to help Oregonians make their home environments more resilient to climate and weather impacts.
- About $4.8 million in funding to modernize public health systems that serve Tribes and American Indian/Alaskan Native people in Oregon, including those that promote environmental health, emergency preparedness and traditional ecological knowledge.
- The 2022 renewal of Oregon’s Medicaid waiver application allowing coverage of climate change-related expenses, such as air conditioners and air filters, for certain low-income patients under the Oregon Health Plan.
“The state is making foundational investments in environmental justice and health equity, with a priority on building climate resilience in communities across the state,” Banks said in the report. “By resourcing Tribal and local health authorities and community-based organizations to carry out this work, OHA is able to work in partnership toward the goal of eliminating health inequities in Oregon by 2030. It is a bold goal, but the facts are before us and lives are on the line – we simply cannot aim for anything less.”
For more information visit www.healthoregon.org/climate.
