Employed

Per Capita Income

Above Poverty

Economic

Preschool Enrollment

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Education

Voting

Census Response

Social

Automobile Access

Active Commuting

Transportation

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Retail Density

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Housing Habitability

Uncrowded Housing

Homeownership

Housing

Ozone

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Safe Drinking Water

Clean Environment

Extreme Heat

Impervious Surfaces

Outdoor Workers

Public Transit Access

Sea Level Rise

Two Parent Households

Alcohol Availability

Supermarket Access

Decision Support

Our homes, neighborhoods and workplaces should help protect us from climate-related health threats, like heat waves and flooding. Impervious surfaces are materials that do not allow water to soak into the soil. For example, buildings, pavement, and concrete are impervious surfaces. Areas covered by these surfaces can impact health by capturing heat in what is known as the “heat-island effect”, intensifying the dangers of extreme heat events. Communities of color and low-income communities tend to be disproportionately exposed to the heat-island effect. By preventing the absorption of water, impervious surfaces can make flooding events worse, transport pollutants and reduce water quality, intensify the impacts of drought by preventing groundwater sources from being refreshed, and reduce water quality and availability.

This indicator measures the percentage of land covered by surfaces that do not allow water to soak into the soil and can contribute to the heat island effect. For more information, see: The California Department of Public Health’s 

California Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (CalBRACE) 

“Resilience” is defined as “the capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Resilience Toolkit, available at https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/glossary

Boweler, D. et al., “How Effective Is ‘Greening’ Of Urban Areas In Reducing Human Exposure To Ground Level Ozone Concentrations, Uv Exposure And The ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’?,” Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Review 08, no. 004 (2010), www.environmentalevidence.org/SR41.html.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Reducing Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies- Cool Roofs,” 2008.

Younger M, Morrow-Almeida H, Vindigni S, and Dannenberg A. 2008. The built environment, climate change, and health: Opportunities for co-benefits. American Journal of Preventive Medicine: 35:5, 517-526.

Wolf K. 2014. Water and wellness: Green infrastructure for health co-benefits. Storm water Report: Water Environment Federation (WEF). stormwater.wef.org/2014/04/water-wellness/. Accessed 13 April 2016.

K Ebi and J Semenza, “Community-Based Adaptation to the Health Impacts of Climate Change,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 35, no. 5 (2008): 501–7.

California Department of Public Health. Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Climate and Health Profiles. 2017. Available at: https://archive.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/CalBRACE.aspx

The United States Geological Survey, “Groundwater Depletion Across the Nation.”

Addressing the health impacts of Impervious Surfaces requires a range of measures designed to prepare communities and households for climate events such as extreme heat, flooding and storm water surges, to increase resilience.

) requires California jurisdictions to conduct vulnerability assessments and define resiliency goals, policies, and objectives in either the safety element of their General Plan, or by incorporating it in local hazard mitigation planning. Local jurisdictions can reduce the health impacts of extreme heat by using these planning processes to understand likely climate changes and impacts, assess vulnerability, and craft interventions. The State of California has developed the 

, a step-by-step guide for local governments, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 

Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework

 offers guidance for health agencies and others seeking to address the health effects of climate change.

Assessing vulnerability to climate impacts is a particularly important step in resilience planning. While climate change impacts all Californians, some individuals and families are more impacted, and have fewer resources to draw upon to help them adapt. 

The health impacts of climate change often deepen existing social inequities—magnifying or layering new risks on top of economic, social, environmental, biological, and health disparities

 Using the BRACE framework, the California Department of Public Health has produced

Climate Change and Health Profile Reports

, summarizing health risks and vulnerability by county. They have also published 

Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Indicators

 to help local jurisdictions understand climate change and health vulnerability. The 

 can also be used to assess underlying social vulnerabilities at the census tract level.

Actions designed to improve climate resilience also provide the opportunity to maximize additional health or quality of life benefits that can be achieved in addition to increased resilience. Adaptation measures designed to address impervious surfaces create several opportunities for additional benefits. For instance, urban greening can simultaneously address storm water surges and mitigate the heat-island effect. Urban greening can also provide opportunities for active transportation, support “soft” armoring strategies for sea level rise, create spaces to grow and learn about healthy food, and provide job opportunities in communities with high rates of unemployment. Local governments should prioritize interventions that minimize risk in low-income communities or communities of color, while maximizing benefits that meet support healthier community conditions.

Resilience efforts should prioritize the participation of community members in each step of the process. This will help ensure that community standards, expectations and requirements are effectively addressed, while building buy-in and support for resilience measures, and improving community capacity to envision and address climate impacts. For more information, see: The California Department of Public Health’s 

, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network’s 

Equitable, Community Driven Climate Preparedness Planning

In the short term, communities with a high percentage of impervious surfaces should make sure they are 

, by reviewing and improving emergency response plans and systems to warn and protect residents during extreme heat events. When heat events strike, effective and targeted 

 systems should be in place. Jurisdictions can also help their residents become 

 through home weatherization, air conditioning, education, and other programs.

In the longer term, governments should work to decrease these impervious surfaces by creating 

 that provide shade, mitigate heat-island effect, and manage storm water runoff, and pursuing 

 strategies to limit future impervious surfaces. Where Impervious Surfaces are combined with 

, local governments should also work to limit heat-island effect and prepare for heat events. They can create 

 by prioritizing cool infrastructure and recreation facilities. Finally, local governments should help foster 

 which has been shown to reduce social vulnerability and lessen the health impacts of climate events.

Although climate resilience actions tend to save money in the long term, some come with a high immediate cost. Several funding sources and technical assistance programs can support local government efforts to improve resilience. For more information, see: The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s 

, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s 

Local governments should get ready by reviewing and improving emergency response plans and systems to warn and protect residents during climate events.

Community Power and Connection

Promising

Proactive Heat Outreach and Education

Equity

Sufficient Evidence

Heat Response Plans

Support resident power, social connections, and climate awareness, which have been shown to reduce social vulnerability and the health impacts of climate events.

Emerging

Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Programs

Environmental Justice Element (SB 1000)

Community Organizing

Community-Based Resilience Planning Processes

When temperatures reach dangerous levels, effective and targeted emergency response systems can help ensure that health impacts are minimized.

High Heat Warning Systems

Transportation to Emergency Facilities

Cooling Centers

Help residents prepare and stay healthy during heat events through home weatherization, air conditioning, education, and other programs.

Pollution

Climate

Health

Strong Evidence

Weatherization Programs

Energy and Air Conditioner Subsidies and Protections

Use natural systems to reduce heat-island effects, provide shade, and absorb water.

Green Roofs

Healthy Neighborhoods

Physical Activity

Green Storm Water Infrastructure

Urban Greening

Reduce the heat-island effect, and help residents stay safe with cool infrastructure and recreation facilities.

Cool Pavements

Cool Roofs

Cool Recreation Facilities

Cool Transit Facilities

Plan for walkable, compact, mixed-use neighborhoods with affordable housing choices near transit to reduce paved surfaces and vehicle miles traveled, mitigate the heat-island effect, and keep neighborhoods cool.

Policy Guide

Impervious Surfaces

References