King County Human Health and Economic Impacts of Climate Change
- Abstract
Climate change will have long-term consequences for both public health and the economy in King County; some of these impacts are already occurring. King County is tracking human health and economic impact indicators that are showing improvements in air quality but also increasing natural disasters, decreasing salmon populations, and negative heat-related impacts to human health. These observed changes are consistent with the projected local impacts of climate change, and many other impacts are also likely. King County is also tracking Environmental Impacts of Climate Change as well Greenhouse Gas Emissions at the Community Level and the Climate Protection Response of King County Government Operations.It is important to note that the human health and economic impacts being tracked by King County are affected by multiple factors in addition to climate change. For example, the frequency of natural disasters is also affected by where people live and work and how prepared they are for storms. However, climate change has been shown to be an important influence on each of the indicators presented. Tracking changes in these indicators is critical to assessing how severe local climate change-influenced impacts are and also how well the King County community is doing to reduce climate change related risks and impacts.
- Resource Type
- Website
- Author
- King County
- Health and Human Impact
- Overview/general
- Region
- Northwest