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Objectives. We used an environmental justice screening tool (CalEnviroScreen 1.1) to compare the distribution of environmental hazards and vulnerable populations across California communities. Methods. CalEnviroScreen 1.1 combines 17 indicators created from 2004 to 2013 publicly available data into a relative cumulative impact score. We compared cumulative impact scores across California zip codes on the basis of their location, urban or rural character, and racial/ethnic makeup. We used a concentration index to evaluate which indicators were most unequally distributed with respect to race/ ethnicity and poverty. Results. The unadjusted odds of living in one of the 10%most affected zip codes were 6.2, 5.8, 1.9, 1.8, and 1.6 times greater for Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and other or multiracial individuals, respectively, than for non-Hispanic Whites. Environmental hazards were more regressively distributed with respect to race/ethnicity than poverty, with pesticide use and toxic chemical releases being the most unequal. Conclusions. Environmental health hazards disproportionately burden communities of color in California. Efforts to reduce disparities in pollution burden can use simple screening tools to prioritize areas for action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We examined the distribution of heat risk-related land cover (HRRLC) characteristics across racial/ ethnic groups and degrees of residential segregation. Methods: Block group-level tree canopy and impervious surface estimates were derived from the 2001 National Land Cover Dataset for densely populated urban areas of the United States and Puerto Rico, and linked to demographic characteristics from the 2000 Census. Racial/ ethnic groups in a given block group were considered to live in HRRLC if at least half their population experienced the absence of tree canopy and at least half of the ground was covered by impervious surface (roofs, driveways, sidewalks, roads). Residential segregation was characterized for metropolitan areas in the United States and Puerto Rico using the multigroup dissimilarity index. Results: After adjustment for ecoregion and precipitation, holding segregation level constant, non-Hispanic blacks were 52% more likely (95% CI: 37%, 69%), non-Hispanic Asians 32% more likely (95% CI: 18%, 47%), and Hispanics 21% more likely (95% CI: 8%, 35%) to live in HRRLC conditions compared with non-Hispanic whites. Within each racial/ ethnic group, HRRLC conditions increased with increasing degrees of metropolitan area-level segregation. Further adjustment for home ownership and poverty did not substantially alter these results, but adjustment for population density and metropolitan area population attenuated the segregation effects, suggesting a mediating or confounding role. Conclusions: Land cover was associated with segregation within each racial/ ethnic group, which may be explained partly by the concentration of racial/ ethnic minorities into densely populated neighborhoods within larger, more segregated cities. In anticipation of greater frequency and duration of extreme heat events, climate change adaptation strategies, such as planting trees in urban areas, should explicitly incorporate an environmental justice framework that addresses racial/ ethnic disparities in HRRLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of Review: The persistent rise in kidney stone prevalence in recent decades has prompted much speculation as to the causes. There has been some discussion about the effect of heat on nephrolithiasis. Here, we review recent data and postulate that heat may play a role in stone formation on a large scale and among African-Americans in particular., Recent Findings: African-Americans are the race/ancestry group with faster rates of increasing incidence and prevalence of kidney stones. We make the observation that urban heat islands in the United States have resulted in part from the effects of redlining, a practice of systematic segregation and racism in housing that led to the development of neighborhoods with substantial disparities in environmental conditions., Summary: In this thought experiment, we propose that the disproportionate rise in the prevalence of nephrolithiasis in minoritized populations correlates with increased temperatures specifically in neighborhoods adversely affected by the practice of redlining. We discuss phenomena in support of this hypothesis and ongoing work to test this theory., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose of Review: Climate change is causing warming over most parts of the USA and more extreme weather events. The health impacts of these changes are not experienced equally. We synthesize the recent evidence that climatic changes linked to global warming are having a disparate impact on the health of people of color, including children., Recent Findings: Multiple studies of heat, extreme cold, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires find evidence that people of color, including Black, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Asian communities are at higher risk of climate-related health impacts than Whites, although this is not always the case. Studies of adults have found evidence of racial disparities related to climatic changes with respect to mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, mental health, and heat-related illness. Children are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change, and infants and children of color have experienced adverse perinatal outcomes, occupational heat stress, and increases in emergency department visits associated with extreme weather. The evidence strongly suggests climate change is an environmental injustice that is likely to exacerbate existing racial disparities across a broad range of health outcomes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Unconventional extraction techniques including hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" have led to a boom in oil and gas production in the Eagle Ford shale play, Texas, one of the most productive regions in the United States. Nearly 400000 people live within 5 km of an unconventional oil or gas well in this largely rural area. Flaring is associated primarily with unconventional oil wells and is an increasingly common practice in the Eagle Ford to dispose of excess gas through combustion. Flares can operate continuously for months and release hazardous air pollutants such as particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in addition to causing light and noise pollution and noxious odors. We estimated ethnic disparities in exposure to flaring using satellite observations from the Visible Infrared Imaging Spectroradiometer between March 2012-December 2016. Census blocks with majority Hispanic (>60%) populations were exposed to twice as many nightly flare events within 5 km as those with <20% Hispanics. We found that Hispanics were exposed to more flares despite being less likely than non-Hispanic White residents to live near unconventional oil and gas wells. Our findings suggest Hispanics are disproportionately exposed to flares in the Eagle Ford shale, a pattern known as environmental injustice, which could contribute to disparities in air pollution and other nuisance exposures.

Background: Cross-sectional studies suggest urban greenness is unequally distributed by neighborhood demographics. However, the extent to which inequalities in greenness have changed over time remains unknown. Methods: We estimated 2001 and 2011 greenness using Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite-derived normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) in 59,483 urban census tracts in the contiguous U.S. We fit spatial error models to estimate the association between baseline census tract demographic composition in 2000 and (1) 2001 greenness and (2) change in greenness between 2001 and 2011. Results: In models adjusted for population density, climatic factors, housing tenure, and Index of Concentration at the Extremes for income (ICE), an SD increase in percent White residents (a 30% increase) in 2000 was associated with 0.021 (95% CI: 0.018, 0.023) higher 2001 NDVI. We observed a stepwise reduction in 2001 NDVI with increased concentration of poverty. Tracts with a higher proportion of Hispanic residents in 2000 lost a small, statistically significant amount of greenness between 2001 and 2011 while tracts with higher proportions of Whites experienced a small, statistically significant increase in greenness over the same period. Conclusions: Census tracts with a higher proportion of racial/ethnic minorities, compared to a higher proportion of White residents, had less greenness in 2001 and lost more greenness between 2001 and 2011. Policies are needed to increase greenness, a health-promoting neighborhood asset, in disadvantaged communities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.