Living with Climate Change: Extreme Heat

Living with Climate Change

Find out more about the briefings in this series below:

The Polar Vortex

Sea Level Rise

Wildfires

Extreme Heat

Integrating Equity into Emergency Management

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to watch a briefing that was held on policies and practices to address extreme heat. Across the country, the number of days per year with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit is increasing, and heat causes more deaths than any other type of weather event. In April 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the first Department of Labor program to protect workers from the impacts of extreme heat. Additional steps are needed to reduce the risk of dangerously hot conditions and increase community resilience to heat. 

Panelists discussed ways that built and natural infrastructure can reduce temperatures, steps to protect outdoor and warehouse workers, and how communities and cities are designing and implementing heat action plans.

This briefing is part of a series called Living with Climate Change that ran through July and focused on strategies, policies, and programs preparing communities around the country for four major climate threats: polar vortices, sea level rise, wildfires, extreme heat, and integrating equity into emergency management. 

The series ran in parallel with another briefing series, Scaling Up Innovation to Drive Down Emissions, covering hydrogen, direct air capture, offshore wind, electric vehicle infrastructure build-out, and how start-up accelerators can drive climate action.

Highlights

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Heat is the top weather-related public health hazard in the United States. Extreme heat also impacts labor, energy and water usage, city landscapes, forest stress, built infrastructure, and energy systems. Not everyone is impacted by heat equally, contributing to an environmental justice issue in which vulnerable populations are disproportionately burdened. Older adults, children, people with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, and outdoor workers are especially vulnerable to extreme heat impacts. People who have experienced historic and systematic racism also face the greatest risk. By mid-century, the number of days with a heat index above 100 degrees Fahrenheit is projected to double nationwide and the number of days with a heat index above 105 degrees Fahrenheit is projected to quadruple, if greenhouse gas emission trends continue. The U.S. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) is beginning to help build heat institutions and coordinate initiatives to address heat.

 

Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)

• As a result of climate change, extreme weather events across the world are becoming more unpredictable, frequent, and dangerous.
• Last year, California experienced the largest wildfire in history, and Hurricane Ida devastated communities across the East Coast.
• Extreme heat, another type of extreme weather event, does not receive the same level of concern and attention as wildfires and hurricanes across the United States. However, studies show that it is the deadliest type of natural disaster.
• In June 2022, Rep. Watson Coleman introduced legislation to target the impacts of extreme heat. The Stay Cool Act (H.R.7949) invests in heat-resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and support for communities at risk.
• In low-income communities and communities of color, the impacts of extreme heat can be life threatening.
• In addition to addressing the causes of climate change, the federal government must also address the consequences of climate change that people are experiencing today.

 

Dr. Ladd Keith, Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments, School of Architecture and Planning, The University of Arizona

• Urban heat is a growing issue, observed by a continued rise in average temperature and extreme heat events. The United States has warmed by about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit and is projected to warm by 12 degrees if greenhouse gas emission trends continue.
• Heat waves are becoming longer, more intense, and more frequent. This is caused by climate change and the urban heat island effect.
• Heat is the top weather-related public health hazard in the United States. In addition to health impacts, urban heat has an effect on labor, energy and water usage, city landscapes, forest stress, built infrastructure, and energy systems.
• Heat is felt differently across the country depending on the infrastructure set up to manage it. In the Pacific Northwest, which has not historically dealt with extreme heat, 1,400 people died during a heat wave in 2021.
• Heat is a complex climate risk. Your positioning in the built environment exposes you to different types of urban heat.
• Heat is inequitably distributed across urban areas, a result of the legacy of racist land use practices and continued community disinvestment. Lower income and marginalized communities are exposed to temperatures that can be 10-12 degrees hotter than neighboring areas across the city. Systemic inequities, which contribute to the disproportionate burden of extreme heat, include housing and indoor cooling affordability, disparities in workplace and school environments, transportation patterns, access to healthcare, and exclusion from decision-making.
  • Heat mitigation involves changing land uses, improving urban designs to increase shade, increasing urban greening, and reducing waste heat from vehicles and air conditioning units. There is a network of planning tools for heat mitigation that can shape the built environment and reduce the urban heat island effect. They include community visioning, plans and policies for mitigation, regulation of the built environment, and public investments.
  • Heat management involves responding to heat that is not possible to mitigate. This includes building resilient energy systems, reducing each individual’s personal heat exposure, improving the U.S. public health and medical systems to address heat illness, and preparing for heat waves when they occur.
• The Nature article, “Deploy Heat Officers, Policies, and Metrics,” calls for improved heat governance in mitigating and managing heat as a hazard.
• Advancing heat equity is an important principle in effective heat governance. The Justice40 Initiative is an example of how this can be done holistically across the federal government. Addressing systemic inequities through participation in democracy is also critical.
• Mitigating and managing heat can be done effectively by breaking down the barriers between urban planning, public health, and emergency management.
• It is necessary to develop metrics for measuring and addressing heat, such as land surface temperatures, heat deaths, or heat hospitalizations.
• These initiatives should be coordinated across the government and with federal agencies.
• The U.S. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) is beginning to help build heat institutions and coordinate initiatives to address heat.

 

Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

• Heat waves are increasing in severity, frequency, and duration. In New York City, it is projected that there will be over 3,000 heat deaths annually by 2080 if trends continue.
• The urban heat island effect causes increased temperatures in New York City along with most urban areas across the United States. Cars and buildings produce heat while concrete absorbs it, heating up surrounding areas.
• Heat deaths are often inaccurately reported as other fatalities such as strokes or heart attacks.
• Not everyone is impacted by heat equally, contributing to an environmental justice issue in which vulnerable populations are disproportionately burdened. Older adults, children, people with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, and outdoor workers are especially vulnerable to extreme heat impacts. People who have experienced historic and systematic racism also face the greatest risk.
• Poorly maintained apartment buildings, crowded living spaces, neighborhoods with less green areas, and neighborhoods with more air pollution all make people in them less able to adapt to heat.
• Extreme heat is a risk multiplier that accentuates other environmental justice issues, such as rental insecurity.
• Low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately do not have access to cooling, which is the top prevention tool for heat illness and death.
• Poor home maintenance, a lack of access to indoor cooling units, energy inefficiency, high utility bills, chronic illness, and poor ventilation are all factors that can contribute to unhealthy living spaces.
• WE ACT created an Extreme Heat Policy Agenda 2022, which outlines both short-term and long-term solutions to extreme heat. Short-term solutions include indoor cooling, subsidies for utility bills, and outreach to communities on extreme heat safety. Long-term solutions include subsidizing the electrification of low-income housing, phasing out fossil fuels to provide a more resilient energy system, and implementing better extreme heat warning systems.

 

Dr. Juan Declet-Barreto, Senior Social Scientist for Climate Vulnerability, Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

• Climate change has turned summer into a danger season. Since late May 2022, the United States has experienced heat waves in New England, the Southwest, and the California Central Valley; wildfires in New Mexico; a tropical storm off the coast of Florida; and flooding in Yellowstone National Park.
• In the report, Killer Heat in the United States, UCS published projections of how heat index values are likely to change in the United States using climate models. By mid-century, the number of days with a heat index above 100 degrees Fahrenheit is projected to double nationwide and the number of days with a heat index above 105 degrees Fahrenheit is projected to quadruple, if greenhouse gas emission trends continue.
• UCS has compiled extreme heat data for 433 Congressional districts across the country, which can be accessed through an interactive tool. Users can find a snapshot of extreme heat conditions in their respective districts.
• In the report, Too Hot to Work, UCS estimated the work days and earnings at risk from climate change using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations on reducing outdoor work based on temperature and heat conditions.
• Between now and 2050, outdoor workers’ exposure to extreme heat will quadruple, risking $55.4 billion in annual earnings nationwide.
• The average outdoor worker risks losing more than $1,700 in annual earnings, though the workers in the hardest-hit counties risk losing $7,000 per year on average.
• Black and Hispanic workers hold more than 40 percent of outdoor jobs despite comprising less than one-third of the U.S. population, suggesting that workers of color bear the greatest burden of earning losses.
• There are various actions that can be taken at the federal and local levels to create heat protections.
  • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Labor initiated a National Emphasis Program on heat illness.
  • Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Preventing Health Emergencies and Temperature-related (HEAT) Illness and Deaths Act (S.2510).
  • Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act (S.1068), which would provide requirements for protections such as shade, water, and training for managers and employees to recognize heat illness.

 

Q&A

Guest moderator: Kurt Shickman, Director of Extreme Heat Initiatives, Atlantic Council Adrienne Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center; EESI Board Member

 

Q: What existing federal programs could be modified or enhanced to improve community resilience to heat?

Jessel:

• The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides funding to assist individuals with energy needs. It works differently across the country, but one gap is that it does not subsidize cooling bills in some states such as New York.
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a climate action plan, which outlines targets on energy efficiency in homes, though there could be more funding allocated towards low-income housing.
• There is funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), though WE ACT continues to push for the Biden-Harris Administration's Build Back Better Plan.

Declet-Barreto:

• The Department of Energy administers the Weatherization Assistance Program, but there is a need for a broader understanding of intersectional climate impacts, including socio-economic and racial disparities.

Keith:

• NIHHIS is an interagency group that provides the level of cooperation needed for a whole-of-government approach. However, it does not have the resources necessary to support all 19,000 communities across the country.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have all had strong historic roles in addressing heat. NOAA runs the National Weather Service, CDC has a number of programs such as Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) to connect climate change to public health departments, and the EPA administers a Heat Island Reduction Program.
• Every federal agency needs to take heat more seriously. Studies show that heat affects learning outcomes, which falls on the Department of Education. Heat is also a national security risk, which involves the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

 

Q: How would you recommend communities, cities, states, or the federal government go about making decisions on what heat metrics to track and evaluate?

Declet-Barreto:

• One metric to evaluate is the extent to which programs address the existing historical and contemporary inequities associated with extreme heat. Criteria should be based on equity and justice considering that different communities need different resources.

Keith:

• One challenge for communities addressing heat risk for the first time is the lack of information and lack of resources to obtain information on extreme heat. One example is the categorization of heat deaths, which are often incorrectly reported as other diseases in many states. As a result, heat deaths and heat illnesses are vastly underreported.
• Urban planners may be interested in the percent of tree cover in their city, though urban forestry goals will vary by region.

 

Q: There are a number of innovative ways to open up financing for heat mitigation and resilience. For example, Climate Resolve is working to understand the economic value of the greenhouse gas mitigation benefits of cool roofs. Do you see public, private, or hybrid opportunities to finance this work at scale? What could be done by policymakers to accelerate funding and financing in this space?

Jessel:

• The United States needs funding for long-term solutions on rising heat, such as efficient cooling and renewable energy. The administration's Build Back Better plan could be one way to secure that funding.
• In the short-term, federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act needs to go towards programs that help states cover utility bills for low-income people. Funding should also be allocated for LIHEAP and the Weatherization Assistance Program to support the installation of heat pumps in low-income housing.

Declet-Barreto:

• LIHEAP and the Weatherization Assistance Program have been chronically underfunded. To make progress on the administration's Build Back Better plan and the Justice40 initiative, there need to be mechanisms for communities to apply for federal funds in an equitable way.

Keith:

• There are examples of communities starting to invest in heat mitigation, which often has co-benefits such as green stormwater infrastructure and urban forestry.
• In Tucson, Arizona, voters approved a $2.5 million bond with heat at the forefront. Additionally, a utility fee with a low-income equity component was passed in the city.
• There are three communities in the United States that have appointed chief heat officers, but this is not a viable option for all cities across the country. It is necessary to reorganize institutions and processes that address heat without creating additional resource burdens on communities.
• Like flooding and wildfires, the United States should consider heat as a climate risk and integrate it into daily decision-making processes at the city level.

 

Q: How have LIHEAP and the weatherization program been effective in mitigating extreme heat?

Jessel:

• The cooling assistance portion of LIHEAP is about four percent of the budget for New York, though it is higher in other states. This program helps individuals pay to get indoor cooling units installed in their homes. More funding should be allocated to helping individuals pay for their summer utility costs.
• New York’s utility provider has proposed an increase in rates, despite the state’s high utility debt.
• The Weatherization Assistance Program is helpful for building owners who want to upgrade their homes, though the benefits do not accrue as much to renters.

Declet-Barreto:

• Institutions have been slow to recognize extreme heat as a problem. There is a tension between localities being able to implement solutions at their own discretion and protections at the national level.

 

Q: Heat policy seems to separate emergency response from long-term solutions. What is the cause of this, and how can the United States better align short- and long-term solutions?

Jessel:

• It comes down to political will in determining where funding is placed, which does not always reflect public health needs. Long-term solutions require bigger investments for more people, which is harder to achieve.
• People do need to be protected right now, which is why WE ACT advocates for air conditioning accessibility and better communication around heat safety.
• Emergency response is more achievable at the local level, whereas long-term solutions often require state and federal mobilization.

Keith:

• The United States does not have the governance structures in place for extreme heat like it does for other extreme weather events, such as flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires.
• Certain areas that have been feeling the effects of extreme heat have begun to bridge the gaps between short- and long-term solutions.
• While hiring a chief heat officer may not be a viable option for every community, creating a task force for heat is another option.
• The proportion of people from rural communities hospitalized for heat illness is much higher than the proportion of urban residents. Heat is not just a problem in cities, but everywhere in the country.

Declet-Barreto:

• The inclusion of community members in decision-making processes is important. Communities understand their own environmental and social problems because they have lived through them.

 

Q: Advocacy for solutions to address extreme heat seems to lack a unified voice in state houses and in Congress. Why do you suppose that is and what can people who work on heat do to address this gap?

Keith:

• Arizona just held its sixth annual extreme heat workshop, hosted by the National Weather Service, the Arizona Department of Health Services, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University.
• Creating connection points in local communities through workshops and task forces is important to create a unified voice.

Declet-Barreto:

• There are a number of communities in the Southwest that did not prioritize extreme heat in the way they do now. Recognizing that communities are continuously experiencing the impacts of extreme heat is critical.

Jessel:

• It is critical to engage the public in a dialogue on extreme heat in order for them to become advocates for the solutions that they want to see in their communities.
• Engaging communities also increases awareness and understanding within the community of how to react to an extreme heat event.

 

Q: What are examples of heat resilience and mitigation in practice?

Declet-Barreto:

• Cities like Phoenix, Arizona, have included heat safety and mitigation in their quality-of-life plan.

Keith:

• There is no one city that is addressing heat perfectly or holistically yet, but some places are getting closer.
• After the Pacific Northwest heat wave in 2021, the attention to heat has skyrocketed even in historically cooler areas.
• Boston, Massachusetts, just released a Heat Resilience Solutions for Boston report.
• Arizona has its annual extreme heat workshop as well as the Arizona Heat Relief Network, which helps with implementing cooling centers.

Jessel:

• In New York City, the Department of Health runs the Be a Buddy Program in Hunts Point–Longwood, which organizes a communication system for residents to talk to one another on extreme heat days.
• The city is looking to expand this program into other neighborhoods with leadership from community-based organizations.

 

Compiled by Christina Pelliccio and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.