Data and solutions for impacts of climate-related extremes on incarcerated people in the United States

The nearly 2 million incarcerated people in the United States face deadly and growing climate-related extremes, including heat, floods, wildfires, tropical cyclones, poor water quality, and are housed in facilities without adequate protections. As such, these already-vulnerable populations are at high risk of climate change-related health conditions. However, there remains critical knowledge gaps in producing publicly usable data to inform policies and drive action to mitigate the climate-related health risks of incarcerated people. Bringing together academic, formerly incarcerated, community, policy, legal and journalism partners, the objective of this Wellcome Climate Impacts submission is to fill these gaps with short- to long-term impact-focused activities, including: (i) quantifying exposure of incarcerated people to climate-related extremes; (ii) understanding associations with cause-specific mortality in US carceral facilities; (iii) assessing effectiveness of potential mitigation methods; (iv) conducting community engagement activities with formerly incarcerated people, community-based organizers, lawyers, and legislators to identify ways to operationalize our findings for policy impact across scales; (v) building and expanding a user-friendly mapping tool; and (vi) disseminating results and direct experiences via journalism, conferences, and interactions with the public. This policy-oriented work is informed by the policy goals established with community partners Fight Toxic Prisons and the Columbia Journalism School.