Environmental Health Equity in Georgia: Air, Climate & Food
Research for post done by our Global Health Equity and Community Impact Intern Miraflore Ndifon
Environmental health disparities in Georgia highlight deep structural inequalities that determine who breathes clean air, who has access to nutritious food, and who can withstand climate-relates shocks. From Atlanta’s asthma hotspots and polluted traffic corridors to rural counties facing drought, heat, and limited healthcare infrastructure, these inequities have real consequences for community health.
This report explores environmental health equity in Georgia through three key lenses: mapping asthma prevalence and air quality in Atlanta, designing a rural climate resilience toolkit, and addressing food access challenges across the state. By examining these interconnected issues, we identify practical solutions that promote healthier, more resilient communities; ensuring all Georgians, urban and rural alike, can thrive in a safe and sustainable environment.
Mapping Asthma Prevalence and Air Quality in Atlanta
The Public Health Significance
Asthma remains one of Georgia’s most common chronic diseases, affecting approximately 9% of adults and at least 12% of children (CDC, 2023). In Atlanta, high population density, heavy traffic, and industrial emissions converge to create air quality challenges that disproportionately impact low-income and Black neighborhoods. The communities experience higher rates of asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency visits compared with more affluent areas, such as northern suburbs like Cobb and Gwinnett.
According to the American Lung Association’s 2024 State of the Air report, Atlanta faces significant ozone pollution. Ground-level ozone, produced mainly by vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, irritates the airways and contributes to respiratory disorders. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from diesel engines, construction sites, and energy production further increases risks to cardiovascular and respiratory health. With rising temperatures and longer ozone seasons due to climate change, Atlanta’s air quality challenges are becoming even more critical for vulnerable populations, especially children, whose developing lungs make them particularly susceptible.
Environmental Justice and Disproportionate Impact
Research in environmental health equity in Georgia shows that exposure to air pollution is often concentrated in communities with higher socioeconomic vulnerability. In Atlanta, neighborhoods near the I-75/85 Downtown Connector, I-20, and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport; predominantly in African American communities, experience more frequent ozone exceedance days and higher PM2.5 levels (EPA, 2023).
These areas also have limited access to green spaces, resulting in higher heat exposure and intensified urban heat island effects. Combined with poverty, traffic density, and industrial emissions, these environmental factors contribute to increased asthma severity and reduce residents’ ability to protect themselves during poor air quality days (ALA, 2024). Children are especially vulnerable, as their lungs are still developing and they tend to spend more time outdoors. The intersection of heavy traffic, schools, and child-dense neighborhoods in southwest Atlanta highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions to improve air quality and health outcomes.
Mapping and Data Integration Strategy
To showcase the disparities and then counteract them, several mapping tools and resources can be meshed into one composite map created for vulnerability: EPA’s EnviroAtlas, CDC’s PLACES database, and AirNow. The composite map will simultaneously incorporate:
Asthma prevalence and hospitalization rates (CDC, 2023)
PM2.5 and ozone concentration data (ALA, 2024)
Traffic density and diesel particulate exposure (EPA, 2023)
Socioeconomic vulnerability (poverty, race, household vehicle access)
Urban heat exposure and tree canopy coverage
The census tracts could then be ranked in terms of combined burden using a “heat and health risk index,” while priority zones will need interventions. Such priority zones tend to include southwest Atlanta, East Point, and southern DeKalb County where prevalence of asthma is above 12% and AQI values are frequently at unhealthy levels (AirNow, 2023).
Policy and Practice Recommendations
Air Quality and Health Coordination: Schools should consider the AQI in their daily activities and reschedule outdoor activities if the air quality is poor. Also, the Atlanta Public Schools Asthma Program can expand to provide families with early-warning text messages and real-time alerts.
Infrastructure improvements: Tree planting in heat- and pollution-affected areas lowers surface temperature and removes particulates from the air. The Atlanta Tree Equity Score Initiative can work on identifying and prioritizing the replanting of low-canopy areas (City of Atlanta, 2023).
Transportation Policy: Reinforce anti-idling enforcement near schools and bus depots, further green municipal fleet functions with electric vehicles, and enhance public transport to stave off vehicle emissions.
Clinical Outreach: Expand mobile asthma clinics to conduct home-based trigger assessments and distribute HEPA purifiers or spacers to low-income families.
These targeted, place-based strategies transform data into equitable environmental action.
Building a Rural Climate Resilience Toolkit
Understanding Rural Climate Vulnerability
There are rising threats for rural Georgia from heat waves, floods, and droughts, but the limited infrastructure and healthcare capacities make adaptation difficult. About 30% of Georgian counties may have no hospital capable of treating acute respiratory or heat-related illnesses (GDPH, 2024). Many rely on volunteer emergency services and face unreliable power, water shortages, and limited broadband, which restricts telehealth and public alert systems.
These challenges underscore the need for climate resilience in rural Georgia and highlight persistent gaps in environmental health equity Georgia. Rural communities, particularly low-income families, outdoor workers, and people with chronic conditions, face higher vulnerability to climate-related health impacts, making targeted interventions and infrastructure improvements critical.
Framework for Action: The Brace Model
The CDC’s BRACE (Building Resilience Against Climate Effects) framework provides a practical model through which local health departments in Georgia can anticipate, prepare for, and respond to climate hazards. . The five steps assessing climate impacts, projecting disease burden, evaluating interventions, implementing programs, and monitoring results helps small counties develop structures climate resilience plans in Georgia.
By using BRACE, local agencies can strengthen environmental health equity in rural Georgia, ensuring that communities with limited healthcare infrastructure and high climate vulnerability receive targeted support to reduce health risks from heat waves, floods, droughts, and other climate-related events.
Key Toolkit Components:
Rapid Risk Assessment
Counties may map indicators of social vulnerability and identify high-risk populations-adults, outdoor workers, low-income families, and people with chronic conditions-from the U. S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (2023)
Heat and Air Quality Protection
Establish community cooling centers in schools, libraries, and churches.
Distribute HEPA purifiers and N95 masks during wildfire smoke or dust events.
Partner with utilities to provide bill credits for low-income households running air conditioning during heat waves.
Water and Food Security
Climate change threatens the very possibility of water and agricultural stability. Rural areas can develop drought-resistant crops, rainwater harvesting, and community gardens to build up the local food resilience.
Emergency Preparedness Infrastructure
Install backup generators at healthcare facilities and shelters.
Pre-position cooling supplies and bottled water in high-risk areas.
Develop SMS-based alert systems for bilingual communication during extreme weather events.
Sustainable Funding
Utilize FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program and USDA Climate Hubs to finance adaptation projects (USDA, 2023).
Strengthening Rural Health Capacity
The training of rural health workers in managing climate-related illnesses - such as heat exhaustion, asthma, and vector-borne diseases- enhances early intervention and response. Strengthening this workforce is a critical component of climate resilience in rural Georgia and supports long-term environmental health equity. Collaboration with universities and public health students can expand local capacity through service-learning programs and telehealth mentorship initiatives, helping rural communities better prepare for increasing climate-related health risks.
Outcome Measurement
Rural counties may observe indicators such as heat-waves, hospital visits, cooling-center attendances, N95 and purifier distributions, and agriculture losses. Publishing the annual resilience scorecard makes the process transparent and brings additional monies
Food Desert Patterns and Policy Interventions in Georgia
Mapping Food Insecurity and Climate Risk
Food security is one of Georgia’s main environmental health issues. The USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas (2023) identifies many “low-income, low-access” tracts throughout the state where people live far from grocery stores and often lack reliable transportation. In Atlanta, major food deserts frequently overlap with historically redlined neighborhoods such as Southwest Atlanta, Mechanicsville, and Pittsburgh. Rural areas including Dooly, Telfair, and Clay County also face severe food access challenges in Georgia, with residents often traveling 15–20 miles to reach the nearest supermarket.
Food insecurity in Georgia also intensifies climate vulnerability. During climate-related disasters, communities in food deserts have fewer resources to store healthy food or recover from disruptions in supply chains. Poor diets increase chronic disease risks—including diabetes, hypertension, and asthma—which further reduce resilience during heat waves, extreme weather events, and pandemics (USDA, 2023). These overlapping challenges highlight the importance of integrating environmental health equity into food policy and climate planning across the state.
Policy Intervention 1: Healthy food Financing and Small-Store Conversion
The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) may provide assistance to small businesses and cooperative communities in broadening the area of nutritious foods being provided in underserved areas. To improve food access, efforts cannot focus solely on big box stores, corner stores can be outfitted with refrigeration, shelving, and distribution support to sell fresh produce.
Philadelphia’s model of HFFI, for one, has created or improved food access for over 400,000 residents by means of funding small retail stores (The Reinvestment Fund, 2020). Georgia can choose to adopt this model by offering grants, tax incentives, and low-interest loans to grocers who choose to set up or expand in USDA-defined food deserts.
Key metrics:
New stores opened in LI/LA tracts
Increase in fresh food availability (by product category)
SNAP and WIC redemption rates
Policy Intervention 2: Double-up SNAP and Mobile Markets
Double Up Food Bucks-type programs double the value of SNAP dollars for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, mobile markets, and grocery stores. Expanding these programs would significantly improve food access in Georgia by making healthy foods more affordable for low-income households. Mobile markets look like busses or trucks filled with produce and will run weekly routes throughout rural and urban food desert areas in Georgia, ensuring consistent access to nutritious foods.
The implementation of EBT terminals for all markets promotes inclusivity; Georgia will also support local farmers by promoting local agricultural economies. According to reports, SNAP match programs increase the amount of fruits and vegetable consumption by 25% amongst program participants (Fair Food Network, 2022).
Policy Intervention 3: Transit and Zoning Reforms
Zoning and transportation policies affect access to food. Some localities are more or less isolated from grocery stores because of zoning and transit coverage.
Georgia municipalities can:
Require transit routes connecting major grocery stores with low-access tracts.
Designate “Food Access Overlay Zones” where small grocers and farmers markets receive expedited permits.
Support urban agriculture by allowing rooftop or community gardens in residential areas.
By aligning transit and zoning policies with food access goals, local governments can reduce travel time to fresh food, particularly for low-income households without cars.
Integrating Environmental Health, Climate Resilience, and Food Access
Environmental features in an area, including air quality, temperature, and sound, are interrelated with and linked to food systems and poor health. Lack of air quality and extremes of heat contribute to respiratory conditions, exacerbating those people's inability to work or attend school and reinforcing poverty cycles. Food insecurity worsens chronic illnesses: it increases dependence on healthcare and lessens resilience during disasters.
The integrated health equity approach can improve on-the-ground outcomes jointly:
Use asthma and AQI maps to target both clean-air investments and food access projects in the same tracts.
Expand telehealth and mobile clinics that combine asthma management with nutrition counseling.
Pair urban greening projects (tree planting, cooling corridors) with community gardens and local food hubs to create holistic neighborhood resilience.
Public health and environmental agencies must collaborate to break down silos sharing data, co-funding initiatives, and aligning climate food policy goals.
Measuring Progress and Ensuring Equity
Evaluation ensures accountability. Georgia can create a State Environmental Health Dashboard tracking:
Air quality (ozone, PM2.5 days)
Asthma hospitalizations
Food access by census tract
Heat-related illnesses
Cooling center and market participation rates
To ensure that environmental equity goals are being met, the data should be disregarded by racial groupings, income bands, and geographical targets. This type of detailed analysis helps identify where climate impacts, limited food access, or exposure to urban heat islands disproportionately affects vulnerable residents. Likewise, local health agencies can prepare annual environmental justice scorecards for community information, making inequities in air quality, climate risk, and sustainable food systems more visible and actionable.
An equity-focused evaluation requires the community as an active participant. Residents need to define success and monitor implementation processes, ensuring that agreements reflect lived experiences rather than mere data models. Incorporating community voices strengthens community resilience, supports long-term climate resilience, and ensures that proposed solutions genuinely address environmental health challenges rather than imposing top-down assumptions.
Environmental inequities exist in Georgia; dirty air, weak rural infrastructure, and bad food access are just some of them that are part of a larger ecosystem of inequalities affecting environmental health equity. To address these issues, policies must tie together cleaner air, climate resilience, and equitable access to healthy food through more sustainable food systems. The asthma crisis in Atlanta shows how environmental and social inequities intermix, often intensified by urban heat islands, while rural climate challenges highlight the need for infrastructure and training investments. Food deserts remind us that health and sustainability begin with access to health food.
If these solutions are combined with data, funding, and community participation, Georgia could move toward a healthier future that strengthens community resilience and sustains its communities, leaving non behind.
Georgia’s environmental challenges require collective action. Stay engaged with local policy updates, advocate for cleaner air and equitable food access, and support investments that strengthen climate resilience across both urban and rural communities. Your voice can help shape solutions that advance environmental health equity statewide.
Resources
AirNow. (2023). Air Quality Index (AQI) and Data Resources. https://www.airnow.gov
American Lung Association. (2024). State of the Air 2024. https://www.lung.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework. https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/BRACE
City of Atlanta. (2023). Tree Equity Score Initiative. https://www.atlantaga.gov
Environmental Protection Agency. (2023). EnviroAtlas: Environmental Indicators. https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas
Fair Food Network. (2022). Double Up Food Bucks Evaluation Report. https://www.fairfoodnetwork.org
Georgia Department of Public Health. (2024). County Health Rankings: Environmental Health Indicators. https://dph.georgia.gov
The Reinvestment Fund. (2020). Healthy Food Financing Initiative: Outcomes Report. https://www.reinvestment.com
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. (2023). Community Adaptation Resources. https://toolkit.climate.gov
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2023). Food Access Research Atlas. https://www.ers.usda.gov
U.S. Department of Agriculture Climate Hubs. (2023). Climate Adaptation Resources for Agriculture. https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov
