Climate change and health equity in California

As a researcher for the Climate Change and Health Equity Program at the CDPH, I presently investigate the human morbidity and mortality burden attributed to ambient temperature and extreme heat and cold events in California. I applied for and was granted access to over 60 million records of emergency department and hospital admission data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. I used around 8 million of these records to develop statistical models that project future temperature-related morbidity and mortality in California populations under different climate change scenarios. I focused on the most vulnerable populations (populations <65 years old, rural populations, outdoor workers) and identified the communities at greatest risk for increases in heat-related illness burden in the future. We are currently preparing a publication, with an estimated submission date of September 2021.