Centering Equity in the Nation's Weather, Water, and Climate Services

Aradhna Tripati; Marshall Shepherd; Vernon Morris; Karen Andrade; Kyle Powys Whyte; Dominique M David-Chavez; Justin Hosbey; Joseph E Trujillo-Falcón; Brandon Hunter; Deanna Hence; DaNa Carlis; Vankita Brown; William L Parker; Andrew Geller; Alex Reich; Mary Glackin

doi:10.1089/env.2022.0048

Centering Equity in the Nation's Weather, Water, and Climate Services

Environ Justice. 2024 Feb 1;17(1):45-53. doi: 10.1089/env.2022.0048. Epub 2024 Feb 7.

Authors

Aradhna Tripati¹, Marshall Shepherd², Vernon Morris³, Karen Andrade⁴, Kyle Powys Whyte⁵, Dominique M David-Chavez⁶, Justin Hosbey⁷, Joseph E Trujillo-Falcón⁸, Brandon Hunter⁹, Deanna Hence¹⁰, DaNa Carlis¹¹, Vankita Brown¹², William L Parker¹³, Andrew Geller¹⁴, Alex Reich¹⁵, Mary Glackin¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Dr. Aradhna Tripati is Professor at Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA; Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, American Indian Studies Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Prof. Marshall Shepherd is Professor at Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
³ Prof. Vernon Morris is Professor at New College of School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences in the New College of New College for Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
⁴ Dr. Karen Andrade is a Fellow at the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁵ Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte is Professor at School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁶ Prof. Dominique M. David-Chavez is an Assistant Professor at Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
⁷ Dr. Justin Hosbey is an Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁸ Mr. Joseph E. Trujillo-Falcón is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations, NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
⁹ Dr. Brandon Hunter is a Fellow at the Center for Diverse Leadership in Science, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA; Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA; Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Lowndes County, Alabama, USA.
¹⁰ Prof. Deanna Hence is an Assistant Professor at Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
¹¹ Dr. DaNa Carlis is the Director of the National Severe Storms Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, USA.
¹² Dr. Vankita Brown is a Senior Advisor for Equity at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a Research Social Scientist at the National Weather Service, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
¹³ Dr. William L. Parker is the Meteorologist in Charge at National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.
¹⁴ Dr. Andrew Geller is the Senior Scientist and Executive Lead for Lead (Pb) and Environmental Justice Research at Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
¹⁵ Mr. Alex Reich is a Program Officer at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
¹⁶ Dr. Mary Glackin was the Senior Vice President of Science and Forecast Operations at The Weather Company, IBM, Andover, Massachusetts, USA.

Abstract

Water, weather, and climate affect everyone. However, their impacts on various communities can be very different based on who has access to essential services and environmental knowledge. Structural discrimination, including racism and other forms of privileging and exclusion, affects people's lives and health, with ripples across all sectors of society. In the United States, the need to equitably provide weather, water, and climate services is uplifted by the Justice40 Initiative (Executive Order 14008), which mandates 40% of the benefits of certain federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities. To effectively provide such services while centering equity, systemic reform is required. Reform is imperative given increasing weather-related disasters, public health impacts of climate change, and disparities in infrastructure, vulnerabilities, and outcomes. It is imperative that those with positional authority and resources manifest responsibility through (1) recognition, inclusion, and prioritization of community expertise; (2) the development of a stronger and more representative and equitable workforce; (3) communication about climate risk in equitable, relevant, timely, and culturally responsive ways; and (4) the development and implementation of new models of relationships between communities and the academic sector.

Keywords: Justice40; climate change; climate justice; environmental justice; water; weather.