Air in East Arnhem: Crowdsourcing Air Quality, Temperature, and Health Data with Yolngu Citizen Scientists

Environmental stressors such as extreme heat and poor air quality have been linked to both increased morbidity and mortality across Australia. Climatic changes and increased growth and development in regions such as Northern Australia will worsen current environmental exposures and thereby increase the risks to people’s health. Proactive adaptation responses are required to reduce the preventable health burden caused by these environmental stressors. Nowhere is this more urgent than in very remote communities of Australia. These small communities dispersed across a vast area are typified by generally poor physical infrastructure and a predominantly Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander population with a high prevalence of chronic diseases, which make them particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. There is a dearth of evidence on how extreme heat or air pollution affects the health of remote communities, particularly because adequate temperature and air quality monitoring are not available for most remote communities. Despite the absence of evidence, environmental health issues have been raised as key matters of concern by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and many remote communities across Australia. This project aims to conduct temperature and air quality monitoring with the help of Yolngu citizen scientists residing in three remote communities in East Arnhem land, Northern Territory. The study will co-explore potential adaptation practices to reduce the environmental health risks and contribute to a unique data set that will link extreme environmental exposures with health symptoms faced by Yolngu people in the East Arnhem region.