Reducing Weather-Related Health Impacts

In collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Health, SCIPP has completed several projects regarding heat-related health impacts across the state. These projects include:

• Research on the potential thresholds that trigger emergency room visits among different groups
• The development of a report titled, “Heat-Related Emergency Department Visits in Louisiana: Review of Syndromic Surveillance Data for April through October 2023,” and creation of a heat-related illness dashboard
• An analysis of heat-related health impacts and their relationship with temperature, heat index, and wet-bulb globe temperature (see “Assessing and Promoting Heat Stress through Wet Bulb Globe Temperature” for more information)

Oklahoma City was one of several cities selected to participate in NOAA’s Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign. This campaign sought to create a better understanding of how air quality and heat is distributed throughout the city, and from this campaign, the areas most vulnerable to extreme heat and poor air quality were identified and prioritized.

SCIPP contributed to the campaign by presenting an historical analysis of heat in OKC to campaign organizers and partners. SCIPP also provided feedback at various meetings and participated in an engagement workshop hosted by the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) that discussed potential heat mitigation measures during the summer of 2024.

More information about the campaign, including the results and takeaways, can be found in Heat Mitigation & Adaptation Guidebook – Strategies for Oklahoma City and on the City of Oklahoma City’s website.

This project has two goals. The first is to develop an estimated wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) climatology, while the second is to determine if there is a relationship between WBGT and morbidity (emergency department visits and inpatient hospitalizations) and mortality (fatalities) in Louisiana. The first goal will be accomplished by estimating WBGT from ERA-5 Land for the southeastern U.S. from 1991–2020, emphasizing athlete and worker safety thresholds. The second goal will utilize ERA-5 Land derived WBGT, heat index, and air temperature alongside data provided by the Louisiana Department of Health for 2010–2021. Statistical analyses of the relationship between all three heat variables and the health data includes descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis at the state, climate division, and parish level. Peer-reviewed manuscripts will be developed for both studies.