The official start of summer is more than five weeks away, but preparations for extreme heat have been underway for months in some parts of the country hit hard by last year’s sweltering conditions.
Mayor said: “We are preparing for year-round heat in Phoenix” Kate Gallego aforementioned. “It’s something we know is coming so we have to think about it even on the coldest day of the year.”
But last summer was particularly violent; Phoenix, for example, experienced 31 consecutive days of high temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous record of 18 days set in 1974. At least 645 in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. Deaths from heat-related causes increased 52% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the county’s Health Department.
The 2023 heat waves revealed how difficult it can be to cope with weeks of extreme temperatures, even in places where residents are accustomed to hot weather. And the coming months are expected to be just as hot, if not hotter.
Based on global temperatures so far, 2024 will be among the five warmest years in recorded history and has a 61% chance of being the warmest year on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
That’s led cities in the South and Southwest to reevaluate the best way to keep people safe and alive this summer. Some have launched new initiatives aimed at increasing shade in public spaces, strengthening health systems to deal with heat wave victims and providing outreach to outdoor workers, homeless populations and other vulnerable populations.
Gallego said Phoenix is creating “cool corridors” by planting trees and repaving sidewalks with more reflective pavement to reduce urban heat. Our primary focus now is to reduce the high nighttime temperatures that plagued the city last summer.
“We were experiencing record-breaking low temperatures for how hot they were,” he said. “This really pushes us to focus on how we design the city, what materials we use, and how we maintain open spaces that tend to dissipate heat at night.”
Jane Gilbert, heat superintendent for Florida’s Miami-Dade County, said a key priority is directing resources to protect residents who are most vulnerable to temperature increases.
“People who cannot affordably cool down at home, people who have to work outside, the elderly, people who have to take the bus on a route where they may have to wait more than an hour at an unprotected stop in this heat,” he said.
To that end, the county’s Department of Transportation installed 150 new bus stops last year, and another 150 are expected to be added this year, according to Gilbert. With a $10 million grant from the Inflation Reduction Act, the office is also planting trees on county- and state-maintained roads to increase shade.
Gilbert’s team focused on raising awareness among tenants and homeowners about affordable ways to cool their spaces. His office also works to educate employers on the importance of protecting their employees and organizes training programs for healthcare practitioners, homeless outreach workers and summer camp providers.
Nationwide, heat kills more people than any other extreme weather event; It is often referred to as the “silent killer” because the effect of heat on the human body is not always obvious.
“When a hurricane hits or a wildfire hits, there’s no doubt about what’s happening, but heat is trickier because we often don’t have the same context clues around us until it gets extreme.” Ashley Ward, director of the Thermal Policy Innovation Center at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, said:
Ward and his colleagues specialize in “heat management,” which helps local and state governments prepare for extreme heat events. The work involves finding ways to reduce heat and develop emergency responses to major heat waves.
In North Carolina, for example, Ward and colleagues helped counties create hot action plans to identify their most vulnerable populations.
He said government officials should also respond to attacks of high heat and humidity, similar to hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters.
“People in emergency management and public health already have a lot of structure for all kinds of other extreme weather events, but not so much for heat,” Ward said.
“Last summer was a wake-up call,” he added.
“This was our category 5 heat event,” Ward said. “The extreme nature of what we saw last summer was enough to focus attention on this issue.”
Research shows that climate change is increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves around the world. Last year was the planet’s hottest year on record, and the warming trend continues. April was the 11th consecutive month in which global temperatures broke records, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Temperatures are expected to be above average across much of the United States for the next three months, according to NOAA.
Ward said it’s encouraging to see cities taking extreme heat seriously, but emphasized that big challenges lie ahead. First, preparing for extreme heat early requires funding, which is a major challenge especially for rural communities.
It will be even more challenging to address key social problems that are magnified during heatwaves, such as homelessness, rising energy costs, and economic inequality.
But Ward is optimistic that last summer’s experience has spurred some local governments to take action.
“Hopefully what we’ll see going forward is a greater emphasis on what we can do to reduce those exposures initially so we’re not in constant response mode.”
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.