Employed

Per Capita Income

Above Poverty

Economic

Preschool Enrollment

Bachelor's Education

High School Enrollment

Education

Voting

Census Response

Social

Automobile Access

Active Commuting

Transportation

Insured Adults

Healthcare Access

Retail Density

Park Access

Tree Canopy

Neighborhood

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Renters

Severely Cost Burdened Low-Income Homeowners

Housing Habitability

Uncrowded Housing

Homeownership

Housing

Ozone

Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

Diesel Particulate Matter

Safe Drinking Water

Clean Environment

Extreme Heat

Impervious Surfaces

Outdoor Workers

Public Transit Access

Sea Level Rise

Two Parent Households

Alcohol Availability

Supermarket Access

Decision Support

Our homes, neighborhoods and jobs should help protect us from heat-related health impacts. When temperatures are extremely high, especially for extended periods, people can experience heat-related illnesses such as heat stress, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, which if not promptly and properly treated can be fatal. High heat can also make pre-existing cardiovascular, respiratory and other conditions worse. This is especially true for people like children and older adults. Heat events can be particularly intense in cities where buildings, pavement, and other dark surfaces capture heat in what is known as the “heat-island effect” where temperatures can be up to 22°F higher than in surrounding areas.

 Communities of color and low-income communities tend to be disproportionately exposed to the heat-island effect due to historic disinvestment in parks, shade trees, and other cooling elements. High heat can also intensify air pollution like smog and particulate matter.

This indicator measures the projected number of extreme heat days annually for 2050 and 2085. The term “extreme heat” refers to the weather being  hotter than 98% of historic temperatures at a given location. For more information, see: The California Department of Public Health’s 

California Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (CalBRACE) 

“Resilience” is defined as “the capacity of a community, business, or natural environment to prevent, withstand, respond to, and recover from a disruption.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Resilience Toolkit, available at https://toolkit.climate.gov/content/glossary

Boweler, D. et al., “How Effective Is ‘Greening’ Of Urban Areas In Reducing Human Exposure To Ground Level Ozone Concentrations, Uv Exposure And The ‘Urban Heat Island Effect’?,” Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Review 08, no. 004 (2010), www.environmentalevidence.org/SR41.html.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Reducing Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies- Cool Roofs,” 2008.

Younger M, Morrow-Almeida H, Vindigni S, and Dannenberg A. 2008. The built environment, climate change, and health: Opportunities for co-benefits. American Journal of Preventive Medicine: 35:5, 517-526.

Wolf K. 2014. Water and wellness: Green infrastructure for health co-benefits. Storm water Report: Water Environment Federation (WEF). stormwater.wef.org/2014/04/water-wellness/. Accessed 13 April 2016.

K Ebi and J Semenza, “Community-Based Adaptation to the Health Impacts of Climate Change,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 35, no. 5 (2008): 501–7.

Environmental Protection Agency, “Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendium of Strategies- Urban Heat Island Basics.”

California Department of Public Health. Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Climate and Health Profiles. 2017. Available at: https://archive.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/CalBRACE.aspx

Addressing the health impacts of Extreme Heat requires a range of measures designed to prepare communities and households for extreme heat and to increase resilience.

) requires California jurisdictions to conduct vulnerability assessments and define resiliency goals, policies, and objectives in either the safety element of their General Plan, or by incorporating it in local hazard mitigation planning. Local jurisdictions can reduce the health impacts of extreme heat by using these planning processes to understand likely climate changes and impacts, assess vulnerability, and craft interventions. The State of California has developed the 

, a step-by-step guide for local governments, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 

Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework

 offers guidance for health agencies and others seeking to address the health effects of climate change.

Assessing vulnerability to climate impacts is a particularly important step in resilience planning. While climate change impacts all Californians, some individuals and families are more impacted, and have fewer resources to draw upon to help them adapt. 

The health impacts of climate change often deepen existing social inequities—magnifying or layering new risks on top of economic, social, environmental, biological, and health disparities.

 Using the BRACE framework, the California Department of Public Health has produced 

Climate Change and Health Profile Reports

, summarizing health risks and vulnerability by county. They have also published 

Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Indicators

 to help local jurisdictions understand climate change and health vulnerability. The 

 Can also be used to assess underlying social vulnerabilities at the census tract level.

Actions designed to improve climate resilience also provide the opportunity to maximize additional health or quality of life benefits that can be achieved in addition to increased resilience. Extreme heat adaptation measures create several opportunities for additional benefits. For instance, weatherization programs can help reduce asthma triggers and improve indoor air quality, protect residents from extreme heat, provide job training opportunities, and save residents money; urban greening and cooling measures can also provide opportunities for healthy recreation and transportation and manage wastewater; and fostering community power and connection can prepare residents to participate and respond to a range of other planning processes and emergency situations. Local governments should prioritize interventions that minimize risk in low-income communities or communities of color, while maximizing benefits that support healthier community conditions.

Resilience efforts should prioritize the participation of community members in each step of the process. This will help ensure that community standards, expectations and requirements are effectively addressed, while building buy-in and support for resilience measures, and improving community capacity to envision and address climate impacts. For more information, see: The California Department of Public Health’s 

, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network’s 

Equitable, Community Driven Climate Preparedness Planning

Local governments have many tools they can use to increase resilience to extreme heat. In the short term, they should make sure they are 

, by reviewing and improving emergency response plans and systems to warn and protect residents during extreme heat events. When heat events strike, jurisdictions should have effective and targeted 

 systems in place. Jurisdictions can also help their residents become 

 through home weatherization, air conditioning, education and other programs.

In the longer term, governments can create 

 by prioritizing cool infrastructure and recreation facilities, 

 that provide shade, mitigate heat-island effects, and manage storm water, and 

 to reduce paved surfaces and vehicle miles traveled. Jurisdictions should help foster 

 which has been shown to reduce social vulnerability and the health impacts of climate events.

Although climate resilience actions tend to save money in the long term, some come with a high immediate cost. Several funding sources and technical assistance programs can support local government efforts to improve resilience. For more information, see: The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s 

, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency‘s 

When temperatures reach dangerous levels, effective and targeted emergency response systems can help ensure that health impacts are minimized.

Equity

Sufficient Evidence

Cooling Centers

Transportation to Emergency Facilities

High Heat Warning Systems

Use natural systems to reduce heat-island effects and provide shade.  

Healthy Neighborhoods

Pollution

Physical Activity

Climate

Green Storm Water Infrastructure

Green Roofs

Urban Greening

Support resident power, social connections, and climate awareness, which have been shown to reduce social vulnerability and the health impacts of climate events.

Emerging

Capacity Building and Technical Assistance Programs

Community Power and Connection

Environmental Justice Element (SB 1000)

Community Organizing

Community-Based Resilience Planning Processes

Local governments should get ready by reviewing and improving emergency response plans and systems to warn and protect residents during heat events.

Promising

Proactive Heat Outreach and Education

Heat Response Plans

Help residents prepare and stay healthy during heat events through home weatherization, air conditioning, education, and other programs.

Health

Strong Evidence

Weatherization Programs

Energy and Air Conditioner Subsidies and Protections

Reduce the heat-island effect, and help residents stay safe with cool infrastructure and recreation facilities.

Cool Pavements

Cool Roofs

Cool Recreation Facilities

Cool Transit Facilities

Plan for walkable, compact, mixed-use neighborhoods with affordable housing choices near transit to reduce paved surfaces and vehicle miles traveled, mitigate the heat-island effect, and keep neighborhoods cool

Policy Guide

Extreme Heat

References