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201220 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.201220 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2025 2027-05-01T11:15:35 159 pages Doctoral Dissertation Academic theses en Van Tol, Zachary Vanos, Jennifer K. Middel, Ariane Ferguson, Kristin M Arizona State University Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2025 Field of study: Sustainability Communities across the United States continue to grapple with homelessness—a challenge further complicated by the interplay of climate, housing, and media dynamics. This dissertation examines the intersection of housing and climate in Phoenix, Arizona, where extreme heat, elevated air pollution, and a substantial population of people experiencing homelessness underscore the urgency of understanding risks and solutions for this often-overlooked group.To highlight the understudied yet critical overlap between homelessness and specific climate extremes, this dissertation starts with a commentary that examines health insights from concurrent air pollution and heat exposure studies related to people experiencing homelessness. This initial chapter further identifies key areas where collaboration between scientists and practitioners is essential to improving current conditions. This overview is followed by three independent yet related studies that contribute diverse methodological approaches. First, a comparative analysis is presented analyzing local publications’ coverage of people experiencing homelessness, including official city communications and popular news outlets, revealing the pervasive underrepresentation of the voices of people with lived experience and the limited discussion of environmental hazards in narratives about homelessness. The second study—based on a co-produced, community-based survey—examines how older adults experiencing homelessness in Phoenix perceive local environmental hazards and access coping resources. Survey results informed subsequent biometeorological data collection and modeling, which quantified heat and air pollution exposure in frequently visited areas by the population and underscored the significant impact of heat and air pollution on health. Combined results indicate the need for targeted risk-reduction strategies. The final study employs a geographic information system (GIS) to analyze the accessibility of heat relief network (HRN) sites in Phoenix for people experiencing homelessness. Findings indicate statistically significant differences in environmental hazards across HRN sites based on the number of individuals they serve and the average distance someone travels to reach them, but the magnitude of difference is likely of little consequence, highlighting the importance of broad-based interventions like public transportation, shaded walkways, and mobile cooling units. Together, findings offer a comprehensive evaluation of an urgent issue around urban environmental health challenges faced by historically marginalized populations, which has not received adequate attention or resources from the scientific community and policymakers alike. Social Research Air Pollution Heat Homelessness Social Science Unsheltering Truths: How Climate and Media Shape Homelessness in Phoenix, Arizona