Climate Change & Health in New Orleans
As our climate changes, some New Orleanians face greater health risks than others. Those most vulnerable include young children, older adults, people with chronic conditions, and outdoor workers.
Health Impacts Our community faces several challenges: heat-related illnesses, respiratory problems from poor air quality, increased allergies, and storm-related injuries. These changes also affect our mental health and access to food and water.
Protecting Yourself and Others Stay healthy by keeping cool, monitoring air quality, and eating fresh, local foods. Create an emergency plan for extreme weather events and check ready.nola.gov for preparation tips. Most importantly, look out for your neighbors during emergencies – community support is vital during extreme weather events.
Winter Weather 2024:
Residents are encouraged to sign up for emergency text alerts from the City by texting “NOLAREADY” (one word) to 77295. Residents can also follow @NOLAReady on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram or sign up for email and text message alerts at ready.nola.gov/stay-connected/emergency-alerts
Climate change is an ongoing shift in the earth’s normal temperatures, rainfall, precipitation, and storm intensity and pattern. These weather changes in our Earth’s climate affect our health, the environment, and our economy. While there are natural causes, human activity is making climate change worse. This is because of energy consumption releases billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year.
Interested in getting involved? Send an email to pheeh@nola.gov or call 504-658-2500.