Ongoing events like extreme heat and floods resulting from climate change are disproportionately impacting poor communities and communities of color.

And with temperatures continuing to rise these disparities will increase. So how can urban planners mitigate these inequalities and what can be done to help already marginalized communities in the face of the climate crisis? Our guest today is Vivek Shandas, a professor of geography at Portland State University who co-authored a study that shows a direct connection between racist urban housing policies like red-lining, and extreme heat.