Dust storms and human well-being

Abstract

Dust storms are extreme weather events that can lead to sharp short-duration reductions in environmental quality. Is the US and elsewhere, dust storms are becoming more frequent due to climate change and altered land-use patterns. However, our present understanding of their impacts to social welfare is limited. To address this gap, I undertake the first nationwide US study of dust storm impacts on subjective well-being using life satisfaction (LS) data from the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) over 2005–2010. I find that LS is lower by 0.008 points on a 4-point scale on days when a dust storm occurred in a respondent’s county-of-residence, as identified by the National Weather Service. The observed LS impact is precisely estimated; occurring only on a dust storm event day and not the days immediately before or after. I calculate that individuals are willing-to-pay $111 to avoid a single dust storm event day, on the basis of the estimated well-being externality. I also show that public dust storm alerts on event days can offset more than 50% of the negative LS effect, suggestive of an important role for public risk communication.