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California’s heat wave crisis: Report reveals staggering costs, health impacts
VOL. 10,
NO. 181
LA County looks to expand programs at juvenile halls, camps By Anusha Shankar, City News Service
By HeyWire AI
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recent report from the California Department of Insurance has highlighted the staggering economic and health impacts of extreme heat in California, totaling over $7.7 billion in the last decade. Released amidst a heat wave, with temperatures soaring past 120 in Palm Springs, the report underscores a growing crisis. “Extreme heat is a silent, escalating disaster that threatens our health, economy, and way of life in California. This report brings to light the staggering hidden costs of extreme heat events, underscoring the urgency of our efforts to create a groundbreaking heat wave ranking and early warning system statewide,” said California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We must prioritize resilience-building efforts and innovative insurance solutions to safeguard our state against the growing impacts and financial risks of extreme heat.” Titled “Impacts of Extreme Heat to California’s People, Infrastructure, and Economy,” the report examines financial repercussions across health, energy, economy, and infrastructure sectors from seven significant heat events over the past decade. It reveals significant gaps in traditional insurance coverage for heatrelated losses and recommends creating new insurance solutions. Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO at Climate Resilience for All and a member of the California Climate Insurance Working Group, emphasized the urgency of these findings. “The urgency of extreme heat is only accelerating,” she said. In a 14-day heatwave in 2022, excessive heat directly contributed to nearly 200 deaths, 140 adverse birth outcomes, 2,000 hospitalizations, and 4,200 emergency
A mural painted by youth previously housed at the Los Padrinos juvenile facility in Downey. | Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Probation Department
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Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Unsplash
department visits throughout California, with the southern part of the state experiencing the highest temperatures. “We have this thing that’s killing more people than any other climate hazard, and it’s invisible and silent,” McLeod continued. “We’ve got to double, triple, quadruple down on the data sets and tools we need to be able to respond.” These health impacts disproportionately affect already overburdened populations, including Black, Native American, and Hispanic communities, who experience mortality rates 14% to 30% higher than non-disadvantaged groups. Additionally, the elderly and pregnant individuals are particularly vulnerable. “This report underscores the critical need for equitable adaptation measures that prioritize the health and safety of our most vulnerable neighbors,” said Sona Mohnot, director of climate resilience at The Greenlining Institute. The financial losses from
extreme heat are not limited to healthcare. The agriculture, manufacturing, and “weatherexposed” sectors have also suffered significant losses. For example, the impacts of a single heatwave ranged from $230 million in 2013 to $3 billion in a 2022 event. Labor productivity losses ranged between $7.7 million and $210 million per event due to extreme heat, with substantial uninsured wage losses. Infrastructure costs due to heat-related damage repair and delays ranged from $3.8 million to $35 million per event, predominantly affecting roads and rails. The report purports that the true costs are higher as it only accounted for seven heat events. However, only a small portion of these costs are covered by insurance, with the most comprehensive coverage being health insurance for workplace injuries and nonfatal health effects. The report calls for the development of innovative insurance mechaSee Heat wave Page 02
nisms and investments in adaptation and resilience. Key recommendations of the report include: - Making the most of existing resilience funding to bolster infrastructure and healthcare systems. - Collaborating across public and private sectors to develop and implement heatillness reduction strategies. - Exploring innovative insurance solutions to incentivize extreme heat resilience and cover business interruptions, infrastructure damage, and emergency services during extreme heat events. - Use insights from local government case studies to inform future state and local planning and mitigation policies. “Anyone who says California cannot afford climate action should flip through this report to learn why doing nothing is not an option,” said Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California State Director at Environmental Defense Fund.
he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors earlier this month authorized the Department of Youth Development to use $2 million in grants to expand programs for youth in its juvenile halls and camps, which have faced criticism for a shortage of activities for detainees. The agency was directed to use the state funds to partner with organizations that have experience working in juvenile halls and camps and creating programs for youth to help them learn professional and interpersonal skills. “Our office has received hundreds of comments from youth, parents, advocated and other constituents pertaining the lack of consistency of programming at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall,” Supervisor Holly Mitchell said. She noted in her motion that efforts have been made to provide programs, such as a Drum Corps program at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall that teaches youth how to play instruments, read music and connect with musical programming. A Swan Within ballet program, meanwhile, engages youth in weight training, outdoor strength conditioning exercises, ballet exercise and holistic wellness practices, according to the motion. In February, the California Board of State and Community Corrections declared Los Padrinos and the Nidorf facilities unsuitable to house youths. The state board cited violations ranging from poor staffing levels to inadequate
training, education programs, safety plans and disciplinary procedures. The board reversed that finding in April, determining that sufficient improvements had been made to address the various violations. Had the board not changed its mind, the county would have been forced to close the facilities and relocate the youth detainees. Mitchell’s motion cited BSCC’s findings on the lack of available or consistent programming for youth in both facilities. The BSCC also found that rehabilitative programming at Los Padrinos was not provided in some units at all. “While recent developments have raised the level of urgency, the motion has been in the works for a couple of months,” Mitchell said. “It took a Herculean effort to come in compliance with the BSCC’s regulations and this included meeting the requirement of providing a minimum amount of consistent programming in our juvenile halls.” Mitchell said the Youth Development agency “has identified several organizations who can ramp up services quickly upon contract executions,” and they have prior experience in providing such programs. She said some of the programs include life coaching and a financial literacy program at LPJH, a pre-apprenticeship machinist program and vocational training. Mitchell asked for a report back within 180 days on the progress of the programs.