Poster #66 - Microspatial Climate Risks Exposure and Health Disparities in Boston-Cambridge-Newton Metropolitan Area

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Threats from climate change are amplified when they intersect with existing inequalities, such as socioeconomic and racial disparities. Consequently, climate-related health risks are unevenly distributed both across and within neighborhoods in the Boston–Cambridge–Newton metropolitan area. Examining these microspatial patterns is essential for informing equitable and targeted public policy interventions. However, research examining these microspatial patterns remains limited. To address this gap in the existing literature, this manuscript has two primary objectives. First, we examine how climate change effects, such as extreme heatwaves and floods, vary across and within neighborhoods in the Boston–Cambridge–Newton metro area. Second, we explore how these climate effects intersect with existing vulnerabilities and the effects of these intersections on health outcomes. To do so, we integrate our GIS-based heat index, flood risk, and other environmental risk data with census tract data from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey (ACS) for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area. At the tract level, ACS provides health-related and sociodemographic data. Following that, spatial regression models are employed to analyze the relationship between climate risk exposure variables and health outcomes. Our findings show that those neighborhoods in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area that experience greater climate risks are more vulnerable to physical health-related issues and have less access to healthcare insurance. Furthermore, we find that this trend tends to be more pronounced in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of Black, elderly, and lower-income residents below poverty lines. The effects also vary within these neighborhoods. Overall, these findings serve to raise awareness of how integrating microspatial environmental and health data can improve the precision of public health interventions. Our findings can also inform the targeted allocation of climate resilience investments, such as infrastructure adaptations or community response plans, to high-exposure areas within neighborhoods. Additionally, identifying inequalities at the microspatial level is essential for advancing equitable policy design and implementation.

Authors

• Hina Khurshid, University of Massachusetts at Boston
  Presenting Author

• Elham Hesari, University of Massachusetts at Boston
  Non-Presenting Co-Author