Closing the Knowledge Gap in the Long-Term Health Effects of Natural Disasters: A Research Agenda for Improving Environmental Justice in the Age of Climate Change

Abstract

Natural disasters continue to worsen in both number and intensity globally, but our understanding of their long-term consequences on individual and community health remains limited. As climate-focused researchers, we argue that a publicly funded research agenda that supports the comprehensive exploration of these risks, particularly among vulnerable groups, is urgently needed. This exploration must focus on the following three critical components of the research agenda to promote environmental justice in the age of climate change: (1) a commitment to long term surveillance and care to examine the health impacts of climate change over their life course; (2) an emphasis on interventions using implementation science frameworks; (3) the employment of a transdisciplinary approach to study, address, and intervene on structural disadvantage among vulnerable populations. Without doing so, we risk addressing these consequences in a reactive way at greater expense, limiting the opportunity to safeguard communities and vulnerable populations in the era of climate change.