Overlapping Crises: Climate Disaster Susceptibility and Incarceration

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein¹  Meghan Peterson¹  Katherine LeMasters²  Kristen N. Cowan² 

[1] Center for Health Equity Research, Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA;Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA;

关键词: incarceration;    climate;    vulnerability;    geography;    disasters;    preparedness;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph19127431

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent all over the world; however, there is significant variability in the impact of disasters, including which specific communities are the most vulnerable. The objective of this descriptive study was to examine how climate disaster susceptibility is related to the density of incarceration at the county level in the United States. Percent of the population incarcerated in the 2010 census and the Expected Annual Loss (EAL) from natural hazards were broken into tertiles and mapped bivariately to examine the overlap of areas with high incarceration and susceptibility to climate disasters. Over 13% of counties were in the highest tertile for both incarceration and EAL, with four states containing over 30% of these counties. The density of incarceration and climate disaster susceptibility are overlapping threats that must be addressed concurrently through (1) decarceration, (2) developing standardized guidance on evacuated incarcerated individuals during disasters, and (3) more deeply understanding how the health of everyone in these counties is jeopardized when prisons suffer from climate disasters.

【 授权许可】

Unknown