In the news
As public health officials began late last week to warn of the risks of extreme heat temperatures, posting heat advisories in 23 states, dangerous temperatures and humidity moved across the central United States, spreading eastward this past weekend into early this week.

Back story
Heat is a leading weather-related killer in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service. Some populations are more vulnerable to extreme heat, such as the elderly, the very young, the low income, and outdoor workers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, extreme heat causes an average of 658 deaths a year, more than tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined. In addition, an Environmental Protection Agency report tallies more than 9,000 deaths since 1979 that listed heat as the underlying cause. However, that number may be severely over-reported because of the lack of standards over what constitutes a heat-related death.

Adaptation angle

• Access to air conditioning is generally cited as the most immediate response to the threat of high heat, including providing cooling centers for those who can’t afford their own AC.
• Long term, AC may contribute to the problem of rising temperatures, adding heat to the outdoor environment, as well as strain the power infrastructure and risk debilitating power outages.
• Cities amplify heat wave risk through lack of shady vegetation, use of heat-soaking building materials and even the height and spacing of buildings.
• Cities worsen the risk of heat-related illness during heat waves because they also tend to have higher temperatures at night, which is when the body normally cools off after hot daytime weather.
• Programs such as cool or green roofs, greater greenery and cool pavements can reduce urban heat islands.

Questions to ask

• Is your community especially vulnerable to heat waves because of its geography, size or other factors?
• Are public health concerns greater because of the presence of at-risk populations?
• How many cooling centers does your community have for those without AC?
• Are programs in place to finance AC for the poor?
• How effective is your community’s emergency warning and emergency response system in dealing with heat-related illnesses that arise with heat waves?
• What kind of urban heat island challenges might your community face?
• Are community leaders instituting cooling programs such as green roofs or urban forests?

Reporting resources

• Learn about the harmful health impacts of urban heat from this EPA heat island effects database. The U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment also has a publication on human health, with a chapter on temperature-related death and illness.
• Review a think-tank toolkit for local governments that helps them adapt to urban heat using approaches like cool pavements, check out California’s guidance on extreme heat adaptation, or explore heat policy plans via Georgetown Climate Center’s Adaptation Clearinghouse.
• View an environment group’s mapping system that charts climate-related health threats like extreme heat. Find extreme heat-tracking indicators from the CDC, such as county-level future projections and historical records, heat stress emergency room visits and hospitalizations, vulnerability trackers, and mortality data.
• Learn how to recognize heat-related health problems from the CDC, which also has a health-focused heat prevention guide. The National Weather Service has one, too.
• Get a range of heat health news and resources from a U.S. government-sponsored Heat Health Information System toolkit.
• See our recent news backgrounder on covering the rise in heat waves.

Plus, dig deeper on the heat wave and health story using annotated heat wave-related resources in the Reporter’s Guide to Climate Adaptation database.

Know of other health-related heat resources we should have in our database?

• Share your resources.
• Share your health-related heat wave stories and story angles.

Posted by A. Adam Glenn on July 27, 2016

In the news: It was the hottest June on record for the lower 48 U.S. states -- 3.3 degrees above normal and a hair above a 1933 Dust Bowl-era record, reported National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week. In the wake of Southwestern heat waves in June, unusually hot weather hit the East Coast last week, and a massive heat wave is expected next week.

Back story: Climate change means the U.S. will face average annual temperature increases of 3°F to 10°F by the end of the century, according to the latest National Climate Assessment. But climate change is not just about the worrisome rise in average temperatures -- it’s also about extremes. Climate models predict that U.S. summertime temperatures that ranked among the hottest 5 percent between 1950 and 1979 will occur at least 70 percent of the time between 2035 and 2064. Of course, heat waves are not just a U.S. problem. Europe’s 2003 heat wave caused an estimated 30,000 to 70,000 premature deaths, and last week scientists reported climate change was behind that deadly weather.

Adaptation angles 

• Potentially dangerous health impacts from extreme heat include increased levels of illness and death, especially for at-risk groups like the elderly, the chronically ill, young children and the poor. These impacts could be lessened by measures such as providing greater access to cooling centers.
• Urban heat, worsened by built surfaces and scarce vegetation, can be reduced by cool roof programs or more greenery.
• In rural areas, increases in average temperatures and heat waves will mean enhancing water management to cope with drier soils and researching drought-resistant plant varieties to reverse lower yields.
• And impacts of extreme heat on natural ecosystems require a better understanding of challenges such as increased wildfire risk.

Questions to ask

• Are more heat waves coming to your community due to global warming? What’s been the average? What was experienced during any historical heat waves?
• What are the particular vulnerable populations in your community? Do you have more seniors, more outdoor workers, more people with cardiovascular disease?
• What community programs are in place to help those who can’t afford to buy or run air-conditioning units? Does your community have cooling centers and how do residents find out about them? Are there assistance programs to help residents purchase air conditioners?
• What measures are in place to reduce urban heat, such as plantings or structures to increase shade; or white roofs, rooftop gardens or green alleyways to reduce the use of asphalt and other surfaces that hold heat?
• What kind of agricultural practices, such as water management or drought-resistant crops, are growers using to address heat waves? Explore ongoing research into those practices.
• What do heat waves and drought mean for forested areas in your region? Could they mean greater likelihood of insect infestations that weaken trees and raise risk of more wildfires?

Reporting resources

Dig deeper on the heat wave story using annotated heat wave-related resources in the Reporter’s Guide to Climate Adaptation database.

• Explore what specific cities, such as Milwaukee, are doing to prepare for extreme heat. See if your city is one of 30 in the 100 Resilient Cities program that face heat waves (use the Selected Cities database and search for heat wave under “challenge.”)
• Learn more about urban heat island strategies from the EPA and its actions database, or scan urban heat island policy plans via Georgetown Climate Center’s Adaptation Clearinghouse.
• Review state-by-state preparedness plans for extreme heat through the States at Risk Report Card.
• Explore what one particular region -- such as the Midwest -- faces with heat waves in this economic impact report.
• Learn about heat wave impacts on transportation.
• Browse heat and weather data maps from NOAA.

Know of other heat wave-related resources we should have in our database?

• Share your resources here.
• Share your heat wave stories and story angles.

Posted by A. Adam Glenn on July 15, 2016