Triple exposure: the geographic correlation between flooding risk, climate skepticism, and social vulnerability in the United States
This study investigates the geographic correlation between flooding risk, climate skepticism, and social vulnerability across the United States. Our results reveal a systematic underestimation of flooding risk by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps, particularly in Appalachia, New England, and the Northwest. Our analysis reveals that these three regions face two additional threats: high levels of social vulnerability and skepticism about global warming. Climate change skepticism is particularly prevalent in these areas and manifests as lack of awareness, distrust in science, underestimation of societal damages, and opposition to mitigation and adaptation efforts. Social vulnerability indicators, such as high poverty rates, unemployment, mobile home residency, physical disabilities, and lack of vehicle access, are especially pronounced in Appalachia. Addressing this geographically embedded triple exposure – flood risk, social vulnerability, climate change skepticism – in these regions requires a suite of policy strategies to enhance local resilience. These strategies include revising the categorization of 100-year floodplains in FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program to reflect climate change impacts, conducting targeted public education campaigns in vulnerable communities, and scaling up financial assistance for flood mitigation and adaptation projects.
Dimitrios Gounaridis et al 2024 Environ. Res. Lett. in press https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad801a