Heat vulnerability, climate readiness, and health outcomes: linking anticipatory adaptation in Urban Korea

ABSTRACT Can climate policy efforts with proactive health adaptation be helpful to mitigate the adverse impacts of heat events? In this work, we identify the relationships between heat vulnerability and health outcomes and articulate the potential role of anticipatory adaptation in reducing the vulnerability to heat events within major cities of Korea over a recent five-year period (2010–2015). From the perspectives of vulnerability-readiness nexus and anticipatory adaptation, our work integrates heat vulnerability with health outcomes that assist in accounting for climate adaptation policy efforts using a quantitative approach. Our results suggest that positive associations exist between heat vulnerability and health outcomes. Further, high levels of anticipatory adaptation and climate readiness can play crucial roles in mitigating the negative effects of heat events and enhancing health adaptation.