Experiential and Collective Responses to Health Implications of Extreme Weather Events

Abstract

Extreme weather events, including wildfires, are becoming more frequent, intense, and consequential for human health. Scientific advances have improved our ability to characterize hazards and the socioeconomic constraints shaping exposure, but these dimensions are not always integrated throughout the development of environmental health knowledge. Meanwhile, broader publics, although often not directly affected, may shape the socioeconomic conditions under which exposure occurs yet rarely have opportunities to engage experientially with how exposure unfolds or its consequences. We propose an experiential environmental health framework that uses theater to bring scientists, affected communities, and broader publics into a shared process of investigation, interpretation, and action. We illustrate the framework through Hidden Strawberries, a play developed from a wildfire-smoke toxicity study among California farmworkers, whose prolonged outdoor labor and limited access to protective resources shape exposure. Through interactive performance, audiences encounter how symptoms, labor demands, information gaps, decision-making, and socioeconomic constraints intersect during smoke events. Audience responses illustrate increased empathy and understanding of farmworker exposure, socioeconomic constraints, and health risks, while motivating action. As more people experience the health impacts of extreme weather, such frameworks can transform individual experiences of exposure into shared public understanding and strengthen collective responses.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{namayandeh2026experiential,
  title = {{Experiential and Collective Responses to Health Implications of Extreme Weather Events}},
  author = {Alireza Namayandeh and Shaghayegh Navabpour and Jonathon Howell and Jose Luiz Sarabia and Raphael Kim and Christian Mejia and Ann Lopez and Emily Polk and Rodolfo Dirzo and Scott Fendorf},
  howpublished = {EarthArXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.31223/x5721n},
  url = {https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/14769/},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Experiential and Collective Responses to Health Implications of Extreme Weather Events
AU  - Alireza Namayandeh
AU  - Shaghayegh Navabpour
AU  - Jonathon Howell
AU  - Jose Luiz Sarabia
AU  - Raphael Kim
AU  - Christian Mejia
AU  - Ann Lopez
AU  - Emily Polk
AU  - Rodolfo Dirzo
AU  - Scott Fendorf
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/03
PB  - EarthArXiv
DO  - 10.31223/x5721n
UR  - https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/14769/
AB  - Extreme weather events, including wildfires, are becoming more frequent, intense, and consequential for human health. Scientific advances have improved our ability to characterize hazards and the socioeconomic constraints shaping exposure, but these dimensions are not always integrated throughout the development of environmental health knowledge. Meanwhile, broader publics, although often not directly affected, may shape the socioeconomic conditions under which exposure occurs yet rarely have opportunities to engage experientially with how exposure unfolds or its consequences. We propose an experiential environmental health framework that uses theater to bring scientists, affected communities, and broader publics into a shared process of investigation, interpretation, and action. We illustrate the framework through Hidden Strawberries, a play developed from a wildfire-smoke toxicity study among California farmworkers, whose prolonged outdoor labor and limited access to protective resources shape exposure. Through interactive performance, audiences encounter how symptoms, labor demands, information gaps, decision-making, and socioeconomic constraints intersect during smoke events. Audience responses illustrate increased empathy and understanding of farmworker exposure, socioeconomic constraints, and health risks, while motivating action. As more people experience the health impacts of extreme weather, such frameworks can transform individual experiences of exposure into shared public understanding and strengthen collective responses.
ER  -

Abstract

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