Urban Heat and Health Interventions and Evidence Gaps

Research Team | PI: Ladd Keith; Graduate Research Assistant: Erika Lynn Schmidt

Funding | U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), A Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program (RISA), Climate Assessment in the Southwest (CLIMAS)

Description | The goal of this project, in partnership with U.S. NOAA’s Climate Program Office, is to develop detailed profiles of five U.S. cities’ approaches to heat-health resilience and to identify opportunities to improve the use of climate information. Cities evaluated include Tucson, AZ; Houston, TX; Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI; and Seattle, WA. This project explores the emerging area of planning and governance for extreme heat through stakeholder interviews and policy analysis.

Research questions:

  • How are local decision-makers planning and governing for increasing extreme heat risk?
  • What strategies are their cities pursuing or considering, and who do they work with on extreme heat?
  • What information is needed to advance their efforts and what challenges and/or opportunities are there related to their strategies?