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Urban Heat + Health

Exposure to extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States, with more than 10,000 Americans succumbing to heat exposure each year. The Urban Climate Lab is partnering with large cities to answer two questions related to a the rapidly increasing risk of heat. First, what neighborhoods are most at risk to heat illness? And, second, what climate adaptation strategies are most effective in reducing heat exposure and saving lives?

Through the use of high resolution urban climate modeling tools, the UCL can map heat risk at the neighborhood level. As illustrated in this map, both the level of heat exposure over the course of a hot summer and the resulting number of heat fatalities can be estimated for each urban neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky – one of the most rapidly warming cities in the United States. Our work in Louisville and other large cities finds that the number of heat deaths each year could be substantially reduced through extensive tree planting and the use of reflective “cool” roofing on buildings. Our heat risk and health work has been featured in The New Yorker and The Guardian.

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Affiliations

Georgia Tech | College of Design | School of City and Regional Planning

Sponsors

National Science Foundation | National Institute of Health | US Forest Service

Stone's book,The City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live (Cambridge University Press), is available from Amazon.

Stone's book, The City and the Coming Climate: Climate Change in the Places We Live (Cambridge University Press), is available from Amazon.

Recent News

Georgians without air conditioning endure dangerous heat

How tech can help paint a clearer picture of extreme heat in Atlanta – WABE

Facing a sizzling summer, large parts of the U.S. risk blackouts, government agency warns - CBS News

UCL Presentation to Georgia Municipal Association

UCL study featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Yang's Georgia Tech studio applies new analytics to reduce flood risk, increase resiliency in Tokyo

Mallen interviewed on Dense City podcast episode, "Lights Out: Climate Change and Infrastructure Risk

Hot Summer Nights Get Hotter, and More Dangerous - New York Times

NYT Article: Biden Administration to Draft Rules on Workplace Heat Dangers

Everything Under the Sun Podcast, "Blackouts are increasing due to severe weather"

Wirecutter Article: Why I Douse My Whole Body With Cold Water Every Night

Atlanta's heat wave and blackout risk in Atlanta Magazine

UCL work featured in the New York Times

UCL work featured in the Wall Street Journal

Heat hits people of color the hardest -- Washington Post

Mallen interviewed for story on "heat officer" position in Miami

Radio Ecoshock Podcast featuring UCL work on heat waves and blackouts

Stone interviewed for CBS story on heat waves and blackouts

Extreme heat risks may be widely underestimated

UCL study featured in New York Times

Stone on the Daily Show: Arizona in the Grip of Climate Change

Stone interviewed for New York Magazine story on adaptation

UCL study featured in the Atlantic

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