"A new data tool from researchers at UCLA highlights significant environmental health disparities between Latino and white neighborhoods in L.A., providing critical insights amid escalating public health concerns linked to the places where climate change and the Trump administration’s recent immigration policy actions intersect.
The Latino Climate and Health Dashboard, developed by UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute with support from the California Wellness Foundation, consolidates county-specific data on how Latino communities disproportionately suffer from extreme heat and air pollution. It compares Latino-majority (census tracts that have more than 70% Latino residents) and non-Latino white-majority (census tracts that have more than 70% non-Latino white residents) neighborhoods across 23 counties in California. The counties included in the study represent more than 90% of the state’s Latino population.
With California anticipating a particularly hot summer, the dashboard’s data highlight troubling disparities. Latino neighborhoods across California experience approximately 23 more extreme-heat days per year than non-Latino white neighborhoods. The data further reveal that Latino neighborhoods often have more impervious surfaces and older housing stock lacking modern cooling systems, both of which compound the risks of heat exposure. Residents in these communities also frequently hold jobs in outdoor or otherwise heat-exposed industries."
Marcos Magaña reports for the Los Angeles Times June 24, 2025.
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