Online Micro-Survey: City Services, Health & Costs Are Top Concerns in Communities Facing Climate Change Impacts

Posted on: Monday September 15, 2014

Residents from eight cities around the country answered an online survey question in August to make their concerns and needs known when it comes to impacts of global warming such as more extreme storms, heat, sea level rise, flooding, drought, and wildfires. The survey was promoted via Facebook to communities of color in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, Albuquerque, Tucson and Los Angeles.

Here are the findings:

· Three concerns rose to the top overall: reliability of basic services like water, sewer, electrical, and public transit (77%); health impacts from heat, asthma, or allergies (66%); and economic consequences such as rising food, utility, or emergency response costs (65%).
· Concern about reliability of basic city services was especially high in the Northeast (82%), but it was also cited more frequently than any other issue in the other two regions as well.
· On economic issues, concern about possible rising food, utility, or emergency costs was highlighted more frequently than potential personal financial toll from property damage or health problems, by a more than 20-point margin. Respondents in the Northeast showed the most concern about such costs (72%), compared to 60% in the Southwest and 61% in the Southeast.
· Adequate emergency response or evacuation plans for neighborhoods was a more common concern for respondents in the Southeast (57%) and Northeast (54%) than in the Southwest (40%).
· Protecting parks and natural/recreation areas was a particular priority for respondents in the Southwest (60%), whereas this issue was not highlighted as a top concern by majorities in the other two regions.

Green for All worked with Resource Media to develop and promote the online ‘micro-survey’ via Facebook.