Extreme heat, flooding, wildfires – Colorado’s formerly incarcerated people on the hazards they faced behind bars

By Shawhin Roudbari, Associate Professor of Environmental Design, University of Colorado Boulder
Shideh Dashti, Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Incarcerated people in Colorado are exposed to climate-related extreme heat and cold, plus flooding and wildfires. Because they’re unable to escape these hazards, their health suffers and some die.

“I remember it being summer, and there’s no way to get away from the sun. And I remember people just burning,” said one formerly incarcerated person. “My [cellmate] at the time, … he was out there all day. And he was so purple, and he had edema on his head so bad, you could put your thumb in his forehead and [the print] would just stay.”

Another person recounted how they would…

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