Since last year, the United States has experienced extreme heat never seen before, leaving a higher number of deaths and hospitalizations, with low-income communities and those living in urban areas with more asphalt than green areas being the most affected by the risks. due to high temperatures.
Heat currently kills more Americans than any other weather incident, and the climate crisis has made such events increasingly deadly.
Given this, a group of experts from Miami, Phoenix and Los Angeles met at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services to share their experiences and how they will continue working to guarantee the well-being of society in the face of extreme heat.
The city of Los Angeles will have five times more heat waves between now and 2050, so it is necessary to have an integrated plan ready for times of high temperatures, as it will be the only thing that will save lives in the future, said Marta Segura, head of the Los Angeles Office.
Likewise, he assured that what worries the experts the most are the most vulnerable areas, since these have more risks and they should be worked on twice as much. An example of this is adapting homes in these areas to ones with safe cooling conditions, so the best option for the most vulnerable are cooling centers, an action in which work is being done to have more shelters against extreme heat.
Regarding investment, he highlighted that work is being done in communities that do not have resources, since they are the ones that are most affected. Currently, deaths and hospitalizations due to extreme heat are many, which can be prevented.
Given this, he recommended working together for the same objective, including governments, institutions, educational centers, civil associations and society in general.
Something that worries Marta Segura is the high rates of deaths and hospitalizations of low-income people. «They come from homes that do not have air conditioning and live among high levels of pollution», he explained.
For Jane Gilbert, head of the Heat Office of the city of Miami, Florida, working as a team and organized with all parties involved is essential: «If you want to do things alone, you can do it alone, but if you want to have a lot of impact and make it work, we must do it together".
Gilbert noted that it is very important to think and plan about energy use. In Miami, 17 thousand air conditioners were installed that save electricity as a measure to combat extreme heat, but also take care of electrical energy.
He also commented that they want to reach 30 percent tree planting, and although they already have 20 percent, the project is still on track.
Informing people about the effects of heat has become the most important thing. In that sense, he said, specific information has been provided for the entire population, including the medical area, which must be prevented and prepared for these emergencies.
In this regard, he specified that media are used such as: social networks, advertisements on buses, and traditional media, with information in English and Spanish, among others.
«In our heat index analysis, we look at heat-related emergency visits at county hospitals and we have some data that indicates we have 5 times as many emergencies and hospital visits. The biggest factor is the high poverty rate and that cities are becoming hotter, because we have more asphalt than trees, and we can work on that to calm the heat and lower the microclimates.», he expressed Jane Gilbert.
As it is a public health problem that affects everyone, he said, training and training programs are being implemented so that people can act against the risks of high temperatures.
David Hondula, director of the Heat Response and Mitigation office in Phoenix, Arizona, explained that he is working to achieve long-term changes, since that city has had temperatures above 110° Fahrenheit during extreme heat days, and according to the trend, it will continue to increase.
Even, he explained, the fire department had to respond to twice as many 911 calls for heat-related issues this season.
In Phoenix, the heat challenge lies with people experiencing homelessness, half of heat-associated deaths are known to occur in the 40 percent of homeless people, so work is being done in those areas .
Hondula highlighted that most of the centers and supports are occurring within the same society and this should change to make it more professional, with a strategy designed and applied to achieve the proposed objectives.
Experts agree that there is still much to do and plan in the face of the dangers of high temperatures, but the greatest risk is in low-income communities and homeless people who were the most affected this season of extreme heat.
You may be interested in: Effects of climate change impact all areas of life
