How we can better protect all residents during WA’s next heat wave

Two years ago, an unprecedented heat event slammed the Pacific Northwest, setting 128 all-time high temperature records and killing 441 people between June 27 and July 3. It overwhelmed our medical systems and caused untold suffering, particularly for those who are elderly, pregnant, have chronic diseases, living with mental health and substance abuse issues, work outdoors and communities of color. 

This experience was exceptional for us but entirely consistent with that of many other cities that have experienced extreme heat in recent years. We know heat is dangerous, particularly in areas with more paved surfaces and less vegetation. Air conditioning is strongly protective, but not common here, and its installation and operation is costly. The poor live in hotter places, in poorly insulated and cooled buildings, with fewer resources to protect themselves. 

Now, in 2023, an El Niño is bringing unusually warm and dry conditions. We have already experienced extreme heat days this May and June, and an unusually long dry stretch for this time of year. Climate models project even worse to come — Washington will experience between 17 and 30 extreme heat days per year by the 2050s, five times our historical average. We clearly need to prepare for extreme heat going forward. If we do not take the lessons of 2021 to heart, the consequences will be predictable and devastating. We have been warned.

While extreme heat may be new to us, it is hardly new under the sun. We can, and should, rapidly build on other communities’ experience to reduce health risks. Concerted action has had dramatic effects in other cities. In a new report (at st.news/hot), we describe numerous potential solutions, many derived from thinking about long-term risk reduction, not just emergency response. 

For example, while we live in the Emerald City, our greenery is not equitably distributed, and we’re losing it fast. The inequity is a legacy of historical environmental racism and redlining. Planting trees and building shade structures where people are most exposed, including bus stops and parks, could provide relief from the heat and provide other health benefits. Similarly, planting rooftops with vegetation or painting them white so they reflect heat can reduce urban heat islands. Used widely, these strategies significantly blunt the heat island effect. 

Similarly, there are low-cost, accessible, and sustainable ways to stay cool and keep each other safe when the weather is dangerously hot, but we have to get the word out. We need to work with trusted community messengers to design and deliver culturally nuanced heat awareness campaigns. Here, too, we have examples: New York City developed a door-to-door wellness check program where neighborhood volunteers check on at-risk residents. Baltimore developed more than a dozen “resiliency hubs” in churches and nonprofits, providing water, cooling and device charging. Seattle could easily replicate both initiatives and implement others outlined in our report.

Protecting people from heat requires participation of many groups and institutions not tasked with protecting public health, like municipal planning departments, churches, parks and recreation departments, community-based nongovernmental employees, employers of outdoor workers, and many state agencies beyond the Department of Health. Some cities, including Phoenix, have created heat offices to coordinate across agencies, levels of government, and multiple sectors. Such innovative ideas should be seriously considered locally.

The climate will continue to change, and Seattle will continue to grow. We can do a much better job protecting those who are most vulnerable to extreme heat. We know what to do. We just need to mobilize the resources and commit to taking the actions proven to save lives.