Local Efforts Are Essential For Tackling Growing Health Threat from Extreme Heat
Tornadoes can tear down a home and hurricanes can flood entire towns. But when it comes to weather dangers, extreme heat is the great deceiver. It isn't acute; it's literally a matter of degrees. A 100-degree day looks pretty much like one that's 85. The skies don't darken in warning and the danger isn't instantaneous, like a gunshot. It's slow-moving and cumulative, like a poison.
Defending against extreme heat is a growing problem, as I learned when researching the frontiers of weather forecasting and how to protect people from nature's hazards. In some cases, climate change is driving extreme events in regions where people have little experience with or preparation for the health and other effects of high heat. We saw this with the 2021 heat wave that left hundreds dead across the Pacific Northwest.
As it turns out, the science of meteorology has gotten quite good at forecasting high temperatures—but society has far to go when it comes to using those predictions to keep people safe. I spoke not only with meteorologists but also with doctors, public-health officials, emergency responders, and community leaders. They all made it clear that a good forecast is just the start. Given the links that researchers have found between climate change and some extreme heat events, it's tempting to view this problem as one that needs a global solution—measures, for instance, to reduce carbon emissions, which of course are crucial. But I was surprised to learn how some far more simple measures can help—and rather than requiring globe-spanning efforts, they can be implemented at a neighborhood level.
I had the opportunity to see one such experiment in action in Hunting Park, a neighborhood about five miles north of Philadelphia's Center City. If you take a walk through the neighborhood, you're likely to spot a number of objects on sidewalks made of plain unfinished wood boards. The project that produced these objects refers to them as 'heat respite areas' but they are essentially sidewalk planters with a built-in bench and a mounting for a sun-blocking umbrella.
The idea behind these planter/benches is easy enough to understand: create some opportunities for residents to find shade on hot days in a neighborhood considered to be a classic urban heat island due to its relative dearth of trees. (City data had found that tree cover for Hunting Park was 9%, in contrast with 48% for a leafy neighborhood like wealthy Chestnut Hill.)
But the process that produced these shade stations reveals some deeper implications for the battle against heat. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdowns rampant and social distancing the order of the day, some community leaders began to worry about summer heat. Libraries, community centers, and other facilities, usually pressed into service as cooling centers, were shutting down. So, Franco Montalto, a Drexel University professor of civil, architectural, and environmental engineering, looked at solutions from around the world, and began to focus on the fundamental power of shade.
Soon, a project was underway that encompassed Drexel, city officials, nonprofit community organizations, and—most importantly—neighborhood residents themselves. The approach is known as participatory design, a method of gathering input from all stakeholders to make sure that the final outcome meets their needs. Starting from the broad goal of providing more shade, the process expanded in 2021 and eventually resulted in the planters that now dot the streets.
And through that work, Hunting Park got more than just some outdoor benches. The community surveys and participatory design discussions got residents talking about heat. Hiring local workers to create the planters kept the project community-centric and spurred more conversations. And once the first planters were installed, they became a visible symbol, stimulating even more discussion. Ultimately, it all coalesced into a catalyst for getting residents of one of Philadelphia's hottest neighborhoods to focus on the health dangers from extreme heat.
When I visited Hunting Park, I saw one planter/bench in front of the home of Priscilla Johnson, a resident for more than 30 years. During the pilot program in 2020, she volunteered to host one of the planters in front of her home. 'People weren't actually coming out in the heat. It was just too overwhelming,' Johnson says. That changed after the planters arrived. 'I came outside more than ever, sitting on my bench. Other people came and sat outside and the kids loved it.' Johnson says neighbors liked the way the planter by her home looked and would come to ask her about it. 'As soon as everybody was seeing what they were, I was getting all kinds of 'Oh, I want a bench!' And I explained to them, it's not just about beautifying your house. It's about heat. And that was the real message behind all this.'
Johnson told me her own awareness of heat dangers has grown thanks to the planter initiative and she's now more conscious of the heat island that is Hunting Park. 'All I knew was it was just hot,' she says. 'I'm thinking I had to just deal with the heat, not knowing that we're in an area where it's especially hot.' Johnson also told me she had become more aware of the health risks of hot weather, but she added it's not something her own doctor had discussed with her much. 'I think people need to be a little bit more educated.'
With summer nearly here, seasonal forecasts are already predicting above-average heat for big areas of the U.S., including New England and parts of the West. As we move closer to July, meteorologists will be able to tell us with more certainty about any extreme heat events shaping up. Thanks to modern forecasting, we can see these dangers on the way. But turning those forecasts into better outcomes means taking action—even something as seemingly basic as giving a neighborhood some shady places to sit.
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