Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute

Climate Change, Heatwaves, and Health: Local Tools for Sustainability, Equity, and Prevention

Principal Investigators: Marie S. O’Neill, Richard B. Rood, Daniel G. Brown, and Edith Parker.

Research Investigators: Shannon Brines, Evan Oswald, Ryan Donald, Carina Gronlund, Kai Zhang, Jalonne White-Newsome, and Zorimar Rivera.

Units Involved: College of Literature, Sciences, & Arts, School of Natural Resources & Environment, and College of Engineering, and School of Public Health.

Brief Project Description: This project addresses the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute’s priority area of Human Health and the Linkage to a Changing Environment, and includes a multidisciplinary team from the School of Public Health, the College of Engineering, and the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and intensity of heat events, and heat is already one of the principal weather-related causes of mortality in the U.S., taking a disproportionate toll on the elderly, the poor, and racial minorities. Heatwave health warning systems (HHWS), heat island mitigation through tree planting and other measures, and other programs administered by local governments can improve quality of life, foster environmental sustainability, and protect public health during heatwaves. Yet, few systematic studies of how these programs can be successfully implemented exist. Our team, along with collaborators outside University of Michigan (UM), submitted two large research proposals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2007 to evaluate, improve and develop local heat wave preparedness and prevention programs. Though the reviews were positive, these proposals were not funded in part because a lack of documented knowledge about the end-user needs for implementation of these programs, and how they can fit in with local sustainability initiatives.

This proposal aims to fill these knowledge gaps by conducting a case study in Detroit, a city with strong UM collaborative ties, where racial/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in heat exposure and heat-related health effects have been documented. The three part case study will evaluate heat wave preparedness and sustainability issues in Detroit. We aim to:

  1. conduct an interview-based needs assessment (among residents and government officials)
  2. develop a ‘heat vulnerability mapping’ decision support tool that will map several information sources at fine spatial-scale: temperature data; satellite images of land-cover relevant to heat exposure (green space, built environment characteristics); and demographic vulnerability indicators derived from the U.S. Census (including percent poverty, race/ethnic composition, elderly residents, and single-person households), and;
  3. design a prototype simple, inexpensive HHWS that could be implemented in Detroit (none currently exists) and validate the system using historical health outcome data (morbidity and mortality).


We expect that this innovative case study will significantly advance understanding of heat wave preparedness, yield ideas for sustainable approaches for adapting to climate change, provide critical pilot data for future grant proposals, and provide lessons applicable to other cities where programs to address climate change and health issues, including HHWS, are nascent or nonexistent.

Significant Accomplishments (as of January 1, 2009)

External Funding: