Are American Cities Prepared for Heat Emergencies?

Are American Cities Prepared for Heat Emergencies?

Planet Earth’s recent record-breaking heat is causing concern for scientists and others worldwide. In the United States, experts question if American cities are safe for their populations during heat waves.

A heat wave is a period of higher-than-normal heat that lasts for many days in a row.

In 1995, a heat wave in Chicago killed more than 700 people. Most of the deaths were in poor and majority Black neighborhoods. Many homes in those areas were without air cooling equipment.

And, the city’s electric power grid was unable to keep up with air cooling demands as well. Electricity outages resulted. Temperatures stayed close to 40 degrees Celsius for a week.

People spend time in a public pool in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, on a hot Saturday, July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Chicago has made major changes since then. New operations include a huge public communication and relocation effort. They tell people when hot weather is coming and move them to safer, cooler living spaces when necessary.

Other cities in the country have established similar operations, including Los Angeles, California and Miami, Florida. A local “chief heat officer” leads planning and response efforts in those cities and others.

But some scientists and city planning experts worry that existing measures and policies are not enough.

Eric Klinenberg is a social sciences professor at New York University who wrote a book about Chicago’s deadly heat wave.

“I don’t know a single city that is truly prepared for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

In Chicago, city leaders worked to identify people who are in danger on very hot days. Those people get text messages and other warnings when hot weather is coming.

But a system that works in one place may not work in another, says anthropologist Bharat Venkat. He directs the Heat Lab program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Venkat said many places suffer from what is called “thermal inequality.” He said cities should spend money to protect their workers and people. That may sound costly, but doing nothing will be even more costly, he said.

Cities in France, Germany and India all have new systems to keep people safe during heat waves. The changes came after heat events caused thousands of deaths in recent years.

People bathe at a beach during a heat wave in La Grande Motte, southern France, on July 10, 2023. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)

Ladd Keith is a professor at the University of Arizona. He said the east coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, has a good heat warning system. Others such as Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix, Arizona do, too. But he said, “there are still over 19,000 cities and towns without them.”

Inkyu Han is a health scientist at Temple University in Philadelphia. He said cities should make low-cost cooling units available to people who do not have much money. But there are simple things to do that can lower the temperature of cities, he added. Cities can plant trees and establish more green spaces, for example, especially in the areas where poor people live.

Han is one of a number of people who discussed the problems low-earning people face during very hot days.

A Jet takes flight from Sky Harbor International Airport as the sun sets over downtown Phoenix, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Kate Moretti is another. She is an emergency doctor in the New England state of Rhode Island. The Atlantic Ocean helps keep summer days from getting too hot there. But when it does get hot, she said, people who are older, poor, work outside or those who are homeless “put a strain on the system.” The hospitals see more people than they can handle for heat-related problems.

Robin Bachin is a history professor at the University of Miami. Bachin said laws keep utility companies from shutting off heat on very cold days.

However, when it is hot, there are not similar requirements. For example, she noted that there are not often rules requiring owners provide air cooling systems for renters.

She said the lack of protection from heat was extremely dangerous.

Klinenberg said throughout history, the heat waves in the U.S. have been short. But there could be problems in the future if it gets hotter and out-of-date electrical systems cannot keep up.

A man exercises shirtless as temperatures rise at MacArthur Park, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. Los Angeles is expecting high temperatures between 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit later this week according to the National Weather Service. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

He noted that poor areas were most affected by Chicago’s heat wave in 1995.

Noboru Nakamura is a professor of atmospheric sciences who studies extreme weather at the University of Chicago. He listed the city’s improvements since 1995 but he said “resource inequity is something you can’t really get rid of overnight. And we still have the same issue that we had back then, today.” He called it a “big, big, big unsolved problem.”

I’m Dan Friedell. And I'm Faith Pirlo.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by The Associated Press.

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Words in This Story

grid –n. the network of power centers and power lines that deliver electricity to homes and buildings

relocation –n. the act of moving something from one place to another

scenario –n. a description of what might happen

anthropologist –n. a person who studies humans and human culture

thermal –adj. having to do with heat

unit –n. one item of a product

strain –n. stress or something that is hard to manage

utility –n. a company that provides essential services such as power, water and gas

renter –n. a person who lives in a building or home owned by someone else

inequity –adj. describing something that is not balanced or fair

get rid of –v. to eliminate or end

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