The connection among climate change, social injustice and pandemics

MILLBROOK — There is a lot of talk lately about pandemics, due to COVID-19, and there have been many discussions over the years about climate change. It’s only recently that people have put the two together.

On Thursday, June 18, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies hosted a virtual program via Zoom called a Cary Science Conversation. More than 200 registered to hear a discussion about the intersection between COVID-19 and extreme heat. One obvious difference between New York City (NYC) and the suburbs: it is usually cooler north of the city in both the summer and the winter. 

Although the focus was on NYC, it was relevant to the Hudson Valley region as well. The program also contained information about social injustice related to illness and the prevention of disease. 

Panelists included New York Cities Program Director of The Nature Conservancy Emily Nobel Maxwell; Christian Braneon, a remote sensing specialist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Associate Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance Annel Hernandez; and Director of the Urban Systems Lab at the New  School Timon McPhearson, also a Cary Institute senior research fellow.

When the coronavirus was still new, many thought the weather — cold winter temperatures or warm spring and summer temperatures — would have an effect on it. The panelists said it’s possible that behaviors during the seasons, actually, might make just as much of an impact. 

For instance, during warmer weather, people go out into more open spaces; they also tend to congregate more at social events. It is also true that when it’s colder, people tend to stay indoors, in closer proximity to others, so disease spreads more easily. The conclusion? Researchers still aren’t certain if seasonal weather changes contribute extensively to the spread of COVID-19. 

What does seem certain is that extreme heat can contribute to the lateral problems of most disease, which is when geography, habitat and social affluence play a role (urban versus suburban or country). 

The role of trees

Trees are key. The more trees there are, for instance, the more shade there is. Living in the suburbs or the country, with more access to the outdoors, there are more trees. In cities, there are fewer trees, mostly in parks and perhaps on some streets.

Thursday’s program gave statistics: There are approximately 7 million trees in NYC. Of those, 666,134 are street trees. About 22% of the city has tree canopy, with about 138 species of trees; most of those are spread throughout the city. That may sound like a lot of trees, but given the size of NYC, and that some of those trees are grouped in parks, the actual area covered by trees producing shade is limited, at best.

Compared to non-urban areas, the difference is profound. Among the benefits of trees (based on the tree population of NYC), according to the Cary, they store 1.2 million tons of carbon and 4.2 million tons of CO2; they  absorb 51,000 tons of carbon annually and 186,000 tons of CO2; they remove  1,100 tons of air pollution annually. Trees also reduce residential energy costs, reducing runoff by 69 million cubic feet annually, saving the city millions of dollars.

However, susceptibility to disease it is not just about access to trees, but living conditions. Living in an overcrowded home, not having air conditioning in extreme heat, and keeping  windows closed when there are highly contagious germs spread around shared spaces is also considered very dangerous.

In large cities, there are often clusters of people who are underprivileged or poverty-stricken, who lack access to good health care and adequate and/or healthy food, which can lead to compromised immune systems. This, of course, is also true of the underprivileged in other areas as well, who reside outside of cities.

COVID-19 and the resulting unemployment rates have impacted people’s finances also. Changing ecological factors and increasing heat compound these problems. After floods and hurricanes the spread of disease is well known due to lack of essentials such as clean drinking water, fresh food and diminished electric power — all contribute to declining health and rising death rates, said the panelists.

But, they added, scientists can make Earth Observation (EO) data accessible, usable and understandable. They can collaborate with disease transmission experts and think creatively for potential solutions.

In NYC there is a move to provide more than 74,000 air conditioners to those in need who live in public housing this summer; a move to track heat-related deaths; a move to devote state funds to help pay for winter heating and summer cooling for low-income families.

There is also a push to plant more trees, to create more roof-top gardens and to establish more outdoor spaces for recreation while social distancing. 

A survey asked how important parks are to physical health in NYC: 57% responded that they are extremely important, 26% responded very important. Asked about stress levels being lowered after visiting a park, 38% said visiting parks greatly decreased stress while 41% said it somewhat decreased stress. The same question was asked about mental health: 69% said parks and open space are extremely important to preserving mental health while 21% said it’s very important.

For more information about the Cary Institute, go to www.caryinstitute.org.