Commentary: Disability and climate change—impact on health and survival
Naval Service Warriors/flickr

Commentary: Disability and climate change—impact on health and survival

Climate change affects people with disabilities in dynamic ways. Each of these consequences must be addressed.

Mention "climate change and disability" and many are puzzled — but that lasts only a few sentences into further explanation.


Comprising a significant 10 percent to 15 percent of the global population, people with disabilities are uniquely affected by climate change. This population includes a wide array of mobility, sensory (visual, hearing), developmental, intellectual and emotional impairments, as well as chronic health conditions.

Many individuals have multiple disabilities and may experience social or medical factors differently depending on their race, gender, culture, language (including sign language for deaf people), nationality, geography and other factors. Each of these sub-populations are complexly impacted with respect to health and requirements for assistance for survival.

With greater vulnerability during storms, floods and extreme heat; susceptibility to invasive disease; and the complex disability-related challenges of relocation and forced migration (i.e. finding new housing or support networks); climate disruptions are harder for these populations at virtually all levels compared to those without disabilities.

The clear evidence from past and current natural disasters and refugee situations shows that people with disabilities have a lower survival rate than those without disabilities, and may even be neglected or left to die. Photo journalism showing the impact of Hurricane Katrina in the southeast U.S. in 2005 documented this with tragic photos of dead people in wheelchairs as crowds of other displaced people streamed by.

Stories of people trapped in flooded nursing homes revealed a lack of planning for people whom disaster preparedness leaders had failed to consider. This was especially brought to the mindset of the disability community in 2015 through Rooted in Rights' short documentary Right to be Rescued.



Climate change impact is more complex and enduring than natural disasters – and affects people with disabilities in dynamic ways. Examples of health and survival factors include extreme heat harming people with spinal cord injuries who are unable to perspire and will need cooling centers.

Effective communication technologies are necessary for alerting people with hearing impairments on evacuation planning. Ramps into shelters, accessible bathrooms, and feasible evacuation transportation are essential for mobility-impaired persons, including those using respirators, and indeed for anyone unable to safely utilize standard buses.

Another significant impact upon people with disabilities as a consequence of climate change is that of forced migration, now occurring worldwide.

Each of these many consequences must be addressed regarding specific climate change impact on specific individuals and categories of people with disabilities. Of course, everyone is vulnerable in any kind of disaster or environmental degradation.

We know that climate change impact is happening now all over the globe. Adaptation, the advance planning and infrastructure-building in anticipation of impact is particularly crucial for people with disabilities.

Full inclusion of the disability community has emerged as a powerful, world-wide movement of civil and human rights, enacted, over the past six to seven decades through public education and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).

Creation of disability inclusion, via specific measures of access and accommodations remove these barriers to participation in the mainstream community. This movement is led by people with disabilities, and supported by our allies: families, service providers, advocates and policy-makers.

Our slogan, "Nothing About Us Without Us!" asserts our insistence in full participation in all planning and activities that affect us.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has greatly encouraged and emboldened people with disabilities around the world to view ourselves as deserving of human rights protection. Full inclusion in climate resilience will be a complex undertaking due to personal, social, economic and political circumstances of this community. Responses will require large-scale initiatives and strong collaborations between stakeholders across the climate justice and disability spectrum.

It is fortunate that those currently addressing climate change and disability, respectively, are well-engaged with a social justice framework. Both groups must understand the scope and complexities between climate change and disability. The key is thus to educate and activate these stakeholders to develop strategies to safeguard the broad, intersectional populations of people with disabilities as climate change unfolds.

The World Institute on Disability has connected with the United Nations, the International Organization on Migration, and local, state and national climate change action groups, to enlist all as meaningful allies. We have participated in actions on climate change in general, and intend to explore broad impact.

We have created a website, given talks and workshops, and published articles, videos and social media releases.

We are enlisting disabled people and our allies as trainers and leaders in climate change mitigation and adaptation activism.

Marsha Saxton is director of research and training and Alex Ghenis is a policy and research specialist at the World Institute on Disability.

republican climate change denial
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. (Credit: Gage Skidmore)

Opinion: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s climate change playbook — deny the science, take the funding

The two-faced charade of climate denial while diving into the pot of federal renewable incentives and tax breaks.

It took no time for Mike Johnson to establish a hefty carbon footprint as new Speaker of the House.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Why 16 million households in northern and central California are about to pay more for electricity

With no cap on price increases for California’s utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric will hike rates 13%, which it says is needed for upgrades.

As temperatures rise, Dengue fever spreads and cases rise

With temperatures and rainfall increasing, the mosquitoes that carry dengue viruses are extending their range. More than 4.5 million cases have been reported this year, and global climate models project an additional 2 billion people could be at risk of infection by 2080.

EPA completes fire-related cleanup on Maui

Hazardous materials have been removed from Lahaina and Upcountry sites nearly three months after the fires.

Elevated levels of metals found in creek near Virginia coal ash pit

The effect of coal ash on the environment has been studied and debated for more than seven years now in Virginia. Utilities have spent those years looking for long-term disposal.

The weirdest reason the poles are warming so fast? Invisible clouds

Clouds way up in the stratosphere act like a blanket, trapping heat in the Arctic and Antarctica. That could help explain why models keep underestimating how fast they’re warming.

The mangrove grandparents of El Delgadito

For over a decade, Ana María and David have led their community to restore Mexico’s desert mangroves with dedication, experimentation, and plenty of heart.
From our Newsroom
childrens health climate change

Delays in joining the RGGI regional climate program means excess ER visits and child illness in Pennsylvania

Up to 128 premature deaths from air pollution could have been prevented if the state had entered the program in 2022 as planned.

environmental justice

LISTEN: Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health

“Information matters a lot — trying to explain not just that there’s a problem, but how to do something about it.”

fracking PFAS

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report

More than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

Poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems, according to a new study.

drought climate farming

Opinion: Climate change and soil loss — the new Dust Bowl?

How we can save our soil, stabilize the climate, and prevent a new Dust Bowl.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.