Extreme Weather, Chemical Facilities, and Vulnerable Communities in the U.S. Gulf Coast: A Disastrous Combination

Many chemical facilities are located in low‐lying coastal areas and vulnerable to damage from hurricanes, flooding, and erosion, which are increasing with climate change. Extreme weather can trigger industrial disasters, including explosions, fires, and major chemical releases, as well as chronic ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGeohealth Vol. 3; no. 5; pp. 122 - 126
Main Authors Anenberg, Susan C., Kalman, Casey
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2019
John Wiley and Sons Inc
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Subjects
Archaeological Geology
Chemical industry
chemical safety
Climate change
Climate Impact
Coastal zone
Explosions
Extreme Events
extreme weather
Flood damage
Flooding
Floods
Geodesy and Gravity
Geohealth
Global Change
Global Change from Geodesy
Hazardous materials
Health risks
Hurricanes
Hydrology
Impacts of Climate Change: Human Health
Impacts of Global Change
Mathematical Geophysics
Natural Hazards
Persistence, Memory, Correlations, Clustering
Public health
Risk
Schools
Volcanic Hazards and Risks
Volcanology
Weather
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alabama
Florida
United States > US
Texas
extreme weather
chemical safety
public health
climate change
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Summary:Many chemical facilities are located in low‐lying coastal areas and vulnerable to damage from hurricanes, flooding, and erosion, which are increasing with climate change. Extreme weather can trigger industrial disasters, including explosions, fires, and major chemical releases, as well as chronic chemical leakage into air, water, and soil. We identified 872 highly hazardous chemical facilities within 50 miles of the hurricane‐prone U.S. Gulf Coast. Approximately 4,374,000 people, 1,717 schools, and 98 medical facilities were within 1.5 miles of these facilities. Public health risks from colocated extreme weather, chemical facilities, and vulnerable populations are potentially disastrous and growing under climate change. Key Points Natural hazards can trigger explosions, fires, and chemical releases at industrial facilities, endangering public health and safety Approximately 4,374,000 people live within 1.5 miles of 872 highly hazardous chemical facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast Public health risks from colocated chemical facilities, people, and natural hazards are understudied, yet potentially large and growing
ISSN:2471-1403
2471-1403
DOI:10.1029/2019GH000197