This innovative web-based tool links climate change projections with their associated health outcomes and identifies populations and locations most vulnerable to these health outcomes. The Climate and Health Profile synthesizes complex climate data into an easy-to-read, web-based summary that explains how climate change will impact San Francisco’s weather patterns over the next century. By centralizing and formalizing the collection of neighborhood-level data, the Climate and Health Profile provides neighborhood organizations, city departments, and direct service providers a simple, streamlined way to access information on climate and health.

The tool is divided into four sections: (1) climate impacts, (2) community resiliency indicators, (3) neighborhood summaries, and (4) health impacts.

The Climate and Health Profile analyzes climate impacts using climate projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Research Program (PIER), and the San Francisco Department of the Environment. PIER data was developed with support from the Scripts Institute of Oceanography at University of California at San Diego, and housed in the Cal-Adapt website. Sea level rise data was provided by the Sea-Level Rise Committee of San Francisco, and development of the sea level rise projections coincided with the development of San Francisco’s Sewer System Improvement Plan. The projections are based on the 2012 National Research Council Report.

Climate change impacts are complex and one pathway can lead to a wide range of health outcomes. The Climate and Health Profile simplifies these health outcomes and illustrates the most salient climate change impacts, their effect on exposures, and the subsequent health outcomes that result from these changes in exposures. The tool uses a graphic developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and adds simple drop-down boxes to explain the health outcomes to the end user. The effects of these exposures can be altered or intensified by the complex interactions of factors, which include pre-existing conditions, environmental determinants of exposure, and socioeconomic and demographic factors for a response. The tool identifies linkages between climate-related hazards and health outcomes most relevant to San Francisco in its use of the community resiliency indicators.

The innovative use of data in San Francisco’s Climate and Health web-based tool has initiated a public dialogue on the link between climate change and health, and resulted in actions to strengthen community resilience. By utilizing the best climate science available and engaging community partners to understand vulnerabilities and interventions for communities and populations at highest risk for illness, the profile is a useful resource to help advance urban health and environmental justice in the climate and health field.

The tool was created by the San Francisco Department of Public Health Climate and Health Program as part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Climate Change and Environmental Exposures Challenge. It was awarded one of the local second place prizes.