Identifying Risks of Climate Change on a Community Level

Improving Longmont, Colorado’s, Resilience to Climate Risk Using Vulnerability Mapping

Addressing climate change at the local level is an important and timely task. Recent studies indicate that temperatures are increasing at a rapid rate. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ocean and land temperatures are increasing at twice the rate of increase in the past decade compared to decade-by-decade temperature studies since 1880. Hotter climates naturally affect ecosystems and the people living in them, with minority and disadvantaged groups affected at a disproportionate rate due to historic inequity, socioeconomic disparities, and existing vulnerabilities. Along with extreme heat, communities are also vulnerable to climate hazards such as extreme cold, poor air quality, and flooding. 

Government organizations and activist groups have created climate change maps pinpointing regions that experience hazards like extreme heat, but these maps are mostly large-scale and do not account for temperature differences within cities. For example, a heating/cooling map of a state might only show a city’s average climate temperature increase instead of temperatures at a neighborhood level. This lack of information hinders city planners and community members from preparing for a changing climate at a local level. 

Longmont’s Proactive Approach to Addressing Climate Change

City leaders from Longmont, approximately 30 miles from Denver, Colorado, took a proactive role to understand the impacts of climate change within their community and raise awareness. They partnered with RTI International to create a publicly available, interactive tool that would apply climate change information at a local level. This led to the development of the City of Longmont’s Climate Risk Mapping Tool, which assesses climate impacts on a localized scale. It gathers a vast amount of socioeconomic, housing, health, and environmental data to examine climate effects happening in Longmont neighborhood districts. 

Our team focused on four primary hazards of climate change while designing the mapping tool:

1. Extreme heat (90°F and higher)
2. Extreme cold (5°F and lower)
3. Poor air quality 
4. Flooding

Engaging Communities to Co-create Climate Risk Mapping Solutions

Our team understood the importance of incorporating community input into the risk mapping tool. We worked closely with Longmont’s Equitable Climate Action Team, which consists of volunteer community members focused on supporting policy implementation, community outreach, and education, to ensure equitable outcomes. 

The team played a pivotal role in ensuring that we developed solutions through an equity lens. They provided input on the tool, from the style of maps and legends to the key exposures to investigate. Together, we developed the goal of “no data without stories, and no stories without data.” 

Pinpointing Vulnerabilities Using the Climate Risk Mapping Tool

Based on the information obtained from the tool and other studies, the city is hoping to make decisions to adapt to climate change effects that Longmont will experience in the next few decades. For example, our mapping tool identified the neighborhoods most vulnerable to extreme heat. Factors that influence heat include the tree canopy, air conditioning access in homes, and temperature data. From there, the team identified the most vulnerable neighborhood districts, enabling the city to focus on building resilience within those communities first. 

Despite projections of rising temperatures, the tool also identified neighborhood districts that are vulnerable to extreme cold. These communities, already grappling with social, housing, health, and economic challenges, are at heightened risk of cold-related health issues like hypothermia and frostbite.

Our mapping tool also was instrumental in identifying the area along the Highway 287 corridor as being at highest risk of poor air quality and in pinpointing two neighborhood districts most vulnerable to flooding: St. Vrain Creek and the Slough. By identifying these vulnerable areas, the tool empowers Longmont city officials to develop data-driven, equitable solutions that effectively mitigate the effects of climate change.

Future Plans for Climate-innovative Cities

These actions are only some of the many steps the city of Longmont is taking to build community resilience in the face of a changing climate. By leading the way on climate action, Longmont is a model for other cities striving to tackle climate change on a local scale.

Discussions of climate change often focus on the impact of rising sea levels on coastal areas, but even cities located far inland, like Longmont, will experience unfamiliar threats and extreme conditions. Whether they live in snowy mountain regions or arid deserts, all people deserve access to information that can help them survive and thrive. Our team’s development of the climate change mapping tool demonstrates RTI’s commitment to addressing climate change with sustainable and equitable solutions.

View the City of Longmont Climate Risk Mapping Tool.