A new data set could help climate justice research

A new data set could help climate justice research

Climate change has the most severe impact on social and economically vulnerable communities; knowing this, the researchers constructed various indexes to try to identify the populations at the highest risk. These data sets usually rely on demographic data, but ignore important financial and real estate information that may help determine which communities may drive vulnerable groups out of the community due to rising flood insurance rates or changes in real estate values.

A new data set by Columbia University researchers and Published today in Environmental justice, Aims to fill this gap. The SEPHER data set combines socioeconomic information with risks from wildfires, droughts, coastal and river floods, and other disasters, as well as financial information from real estate databases, as well as race, ethnicity, and gender data. The goal is to explain the financial vulnerabilities associated with the housing market. SEPHER covers the entire United States and is free for other researchers to use.

“We want to provide everyone with a tool to explore issues at the crossroads of racial, social and climate justice,” said the lead author Marco Tedesco, A research professor at the Lamont Dougherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and an affiliate of the Columbia Institute for Data Science. He is also an adjunct professor at the Economics Institute of the Higher School of Santa Ana in Pisa. The project is funded by the Columbia University Earth Institute and is part of an ongoing collaboration with Columbia Business School.

“Our main purpose is to enable users to assess the impact of climate-related disasters on the most vulnerable people,” the study co-author added Caroline Hertquist, A post-doctoral research scientist at Columbia International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. “We need to be able to identify these people to ensure that they will not be burdened with undue burden due to climate change.”

Many studies focusing on the damage and financial consequences of climate change rely on commercial data sets that have been purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars. For many researchers and communities, these costs can be a major obstacle.

In contrast, the SEPHER dataset combines data from many public sources, including:

• The Social Vulnerability Index of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes a series of socio-economic data and information on disability and the status of ethnic minorities;
• FEMA’s National Natural Disaster Risk Index combines the possibility and expected loss of natural disasters with social vulnerability factors and resilience;
• Mortgage Disclosure Act data, including information about whether a mortgage application is approved or rejected, property characteristics, and demographic data (such as race, race, and gender) of the applicant;
• The eviction data comes from Expel laboratory At Princeton University;
• Trends in rental prices of properties.

“It really takes a lot of work to put them together,” Tedesco said. “But by intersecting all this information, we can begin to ask the following question: Compared with whites, how many African-Americans or people belonging to vulnerable groups and socially disadvantaged groups have been denied mortgages in areas that are more or less climate-hazardous. Loans, and how does this change over the years? How does climate hazards play a role in the gentrification process?”

Case study: Evidence of climate gentrification Miami-Dade

In the nearest Manage retreat meetings Tedesco, hosted by the Columbia Institute of Climatology, demonstrated the results of using SEPHER data to show that the small river community in Florida is undergoing climate gentrification. Most of the case study details will be provided in an upcoming paper.

Overlooking Miami from the barrier island that helps withstand hurricanes. Xiaohe sits behind the tall building on the right.Credit: Marco Te Desco

Traditionally, residents of Little River have low incomes and are disadvantaged, unable to live in coastal areas. However, as the risk of floods and hurricanes increases, Xiaohe, which is more affected by these events, is becoming a major area for real estate speculation and development.

These changes are captured by the SEPHER dataset, which shows exponential growth in rents and evictions. After the 2009 financial crisis, the proportion of Little River refusing loans to African Americans was 44% higher than the proportion refusing loans to whites. In contrast, in coastal areas, these proportions have not changed.

Tedesco said that SEPHER helps show that Little River is undergoing tremendous changes. Test case studies show that the data set has the potential to identify other areas where climate gentrification is occurring or may occur in the future, as well as to diagnose other relationships between housing and ethnicity, income, and climate impact.

A video about the gentrification of the Little River climate by lead author Marco Tedesco.

“Obviously, data alone cannot solve the problem,” the author wrote in the paper, “but this is the first step, because people cannot really understand where the most serious inequalities are until the data is available and can be used or evaluated correctly. .”

Tedesco emphasized that although SEPHER can identify areas that need further investigation, the data needs to be combined with local research and community participation. He recently traveled to Xiaohe and other communities in the Miami-Dade area to talk to citizens, small business owners, and community leaders to learn how to adjust SEPHER to meet their needs.

He emphasized the need for scientists and community leaders work together All about climate research, adaptation and resilience. He is optimistic that the newly established Columbia Climate Institute represents the first step in this direction.

“I hope Climate School can build this cohesion between the academic community and external partners (such as government, industry, and community partners),” Tedesco said, “so that we can start to move forward in a useful way And focus on key issues, especially those related to climate and environmental justice.”

Researchers interested in accessing the dataset should contact Marco Tedesco.

Alex de SerbinenCIESIN’s senior research scientist and co-author of this research.