Climate Change: The Most Vulnerable States Are the Least Prepared

Kate Elizabeth shares the details of a new report by the Trust for America's Health that finds the states most vulnerable to the effects of climate change are also the least prepared to deal with effects of climate change.

The report, a collaboration between the nonprofit and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, examines states’ ability to address the health effects of climate change based on their vulnerability, public health preparedness and existing climate-related adaptations. The results, researchers wrote, indicate that every state and the District of Columbia had done some sort of planning, but “there was significant variation and, in many places, a great deal of room for improvement.”

Of the 17 states deemed by the report to be most vulnerable to climate change, only two—North Carolina and Arizona—are also ranked among the most prepared. "Eight of the remaining 15—Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia—ranked among the states least prepared to handle the negative health effects associated with climate change," according to Elizabeth.

[Ed's note: Even "most prepared" is relative, and probably not enough for the coming changes, as exemplified by North Carolina.]

The report lists the most prepared states in the country as Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia.