Some incredible news to announce! We have been awarded a $25 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory (SW-IFL), a partnership led by Arizona State University with the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and IBM for climate change modeling, observations, and resilient solutions. The research and engagement will focus on the urban corridor in Arizona stretching from the Navajo Nation on the north; through the Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson metropolitan areas; to Nogales and the U.S.-Mexico border on the south.

The SW-IFL will study the rapidly urbanizing Arizona urban corridor to provide scientists and decision-makers with high-quality, relevant knowledge to inform and develop equitable solutions to improve resiliency. I am a Co-I of the overall SW-IFL and lead of the University of Arizona team, which will receive $3.5 million and includes colleagues from across campus. The SW-IFL is one of four new Urban Integrated Field Laboratories funded by DOE.

Much more to come!

Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard for Heat

Our guidebook provides a step-by-step walkthrough of how to conduct the PIRS for Heat approach, as well as case studies with results from our partner communities of Baltimore, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, and Seattle. For instance, our PIRS for Heat results indicate that Boston’s heat mitigation policies are targeting hotter areas and more socially vulnerable communities for heat mitigation. Interestingly though, these two areas are not necessarily co-located.

Our approach was developed as an extension of the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard developed first by Phil Berke and colleagues and originally applied to flooding hazards. The PIRS for Heat guidebook was funded by and is freely available thanks to the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Extreme Heat Initiative and a partnership with American Planning Association.

Download the PIRS for Heat guidebook and worksheet

Excited to share that Sara Meerow and I won the American Planning Association, Arizona Chapter’s Open Category (Applied Research) award for Planning for Urban Heat Resilience (APA PAS Report #600). Our report draws from our collaborative research on heat including literature reviews, a national survey, interviews, and planning case studies, and provides an overview of climate change and the urban heat island effect, the inequitable impacts of heat, and heat information sources. We provide an urban heat resilience planning framework for communities and outline numerous heat mitigation and management strategies.

The report is available as a free download thanks to a grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

We engaged a group of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate students across the University of Arizona through this project to help assess the potential for green stormwater infrastructure as a climate maladaptation that could potentially encourage the breeding of mosquitos. The good news is that the curb cuts we sampled did not retain water long enough for mosquito breeding. The bad news is that one of the larger basins consistently held water longer than designed and had the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito larvae, a West Nile virus vector.

We highly recommend that any future green stormwater infrastructure design, construction, and maintenance include vector control experts and considerations to ensure it does not unintentionally become a climate maladaptation.

Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) and the CDC Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (PACVEC).

Abstract

Green stormwater infrastructure provides environmental, economic, and health benefits as a strategy for building resilience against climate change impacts. However, it may inadvertently increase vulnerability due to improper design and construction or lack of maintenance. We engaged city stakeholders and a diverse student group to investigate possible maladaptation. After rain events, student interns collected data at green stormwater infrastructure, identified in partnership with city stakeholders, for both water retention and mosquito larvae, if present. During the sampling period in 2018, 24 rain events occurred, with 28 sites visited 212 times including visits to basins (63%), curb cuts (34%), and a bioswale (2%). The largest basin consistently retained water (mean: 3.3 days, SD: 2.3 days) and was a positive site for Culex quinquefasciatus, a West Nile virus vector. We found that while basins can become mosquito breeding habitat, there was no evidence that curb cuts were collecting and retaining water long enough. As cities turn to green stormwater infrastructure to address climate change impacts of increasing drought, flooding, and extreme heat, these findings can help in the selection of appropriate infrastructure design typologies.

The full paper is online at https://doi.org/10.2987/21-7055

An excerpt from our Executive Summary:

Heat poses a growing and inequitable threat. Cities around the world must plan now to increase urban heat resilience in the face of climate change and the UHI effect. Planners are well positioned to use existing regulatory tools and plans to mitigate the inequitably distributed risk associated with the UHI effect, reduce greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, and help prepare for extreme heat events. This PAS Report equips planners with the background knowledge, planning framework, and catalog of comprehensive approaches to heat mitigation and management they need to work effectively with colleagues across agencies and sectors and advance urban heat resilience in their communities.

(Keith and Meerow, 2022 page 8)

Our guidebook draws from the latest research on extreme heat and heat planning and includes practical examples and case studies that show how communities across the United States are planning for heat. It is an honor to have written APA’s first-ever comprehensive guidance on heat planning with Sara and we hope that planners, allied professionals, and community members find it a helpful resource.

Planning for Urban Heat Resilience is available as a free download thanks to a grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Learn more about GHHIN and visit their online resource library at ghhin.org.

Abstract

Extreme heat is the deadliest climate hazard in the United States. Climate change and the urban heat island effect are increasing the number of dangerously hot days in cities worldwide and the need for communities to plan for extreme heat. Existing literature on heat planning focuses on heat island mapping and modeling, whereas few studies delve into heat planning and governance processes. We surveyed planning professionals from diverse cities across the United States to establish critical baseline information for a growing area of planning practice and scholarship that future research can build on. Survey results show that planners are concerned with extreme heat risks, particularly environmental and public health impacts from climate change. Planners already report impacts from extreme heat, particularly to energy and water use, vegetation and wildlife, public health, and quality of life. Especially in affected communities, planners claim they address heat in plans and implement heat mitigation and management strategies such as urban forestry, emergency response, and weatherization, but perceive many barriers related to human and financial resources and political will.

The paper is online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2021.1977682

I spoke with NBC LX host Jobeth Devera on the creation of Los Angeles’s Chief Heat Officer position, approved by the city mayor and council earlier in November. Los Angeles is now the third city in the U.S. to create such a position in 2021, following Miami-Dade County appointing its Chief Heat Officer in the spring, and the City of Phoenix’s creation of its Office of Heat Mitigation and Response this summer. We also discussed why heat governance is underdeveloped compared to other climate risks, what the role of the Chief Heat Officer is all about, and what communities can do to better address extreme heat.

Watch the full interview on the NBC LX site.

“Heat is an outlier hazard — invisible, frequently chronic and subtly pervasive. Unlike for flooding or wildfire, no single organization or department is responsible for coordinating responses for extreme heat.”

In the piece, we call for researchers and decision-makers to:

• Advance heat equity that address systematic racial and income disparities,
• Mitigate heat in the built environment,
• Manage both chronic and acute heat risk,
• Coordinate local initiatives and integrate planning efforts,
• Develop and use consistent metrics to measure progress, and
• Build national institutions to support local efforts.

More information:

• Full Nature piece, Deploy heat officers, policies and metrics
• Press release from The University of Arizona

Abstract

Extreme heat is an increasing climate risk due to climate change and the urban heat island (UHI) effect and can jeopardize points of dispensing (PODs) for COVID-19 vaccination distribution and broader public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) response operations. These PODs were often located on large parking lot sites with high heat severity and did not take heat mitigation or management strategies into account for unacclimated workers and volunteers. To investigate the personal heat exposure of workers, volunteers, and clients at three PODs in Tucson, Arizona, we collected ambient air temperatures, wet bulb globe temperatures (WBGT), surface temperatures, and thermal images. We also made qualitative observations and compared data against daily meteorological records. Ambient air temperatures at all three PODs exceeded the meteorological recorded high. WBGT on average were 8°F (4.4 °C) higher in full sun locations than shaded locations such as tents. Evaporative cooling decreased ambient air temperatures by 2°F (1.2 °C) when placed one per tent, but decreased ambient air temperatures by 7°F (3.9 °C) when placed en masse in a larger tent. Vehicle surface temperatures exceeded recommended safe limits of 140°F (60 °C) at all three sites, with a maximum temperature recorded at 170.9°F (77.2 °C). Public health professionals should consider heat resilience, including heat mitigation and management measures, in POD and PHEP response operations to reduce exposure. This includes considering the UHI effect in the siting of PODs, applying heat mitigation strategies in the design of PODs such as the adaptive use of solar panels for shading, and improving heat safety guidance for workers and volunteers.

Full open-access paper is online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278221000407