Stay Up-to-Date With Exciting New Developments of the Healthy Places Index® Extreme Heat Edition
Addressing environmental injustice starts with equitable data and effective tools to decipher it.
Schools: Extreme heat inhibits student learning and performance in the classroom and has even led to school closures in under-resourced areas. Using HPI: EHE school administrators can select the “School Districts” Tracts and see what districts will be most impacted by heat now and in the years to come. They can then head to “Resources to Address Extreme Heat” For Schools to find opportunities to build resilience, like programs to fund improvements like air conditioning, electrical systems, and weatherization.
Housing: Affordable, weather-resistant housing and utilities are key to combating the health hazards of extreme heat. Governments can use HPI: EHE to pinpoint areas with high housing cost burdens, older housing stock, or mobile homes that are disproportionately vulnerable to heat, to direct equitable investments. HPI: EHE's resource list offers government officials grants for affordable housing construction and renovation. Similarly, residents can utilize HPI: EHE to identify programs for free weatherproofing services and utility discounts.
Outdoor Public Spaces: Substantial evidence suggests that Green Infrastructure (GI) not only enhances water quality and reduces carbon emissions but shields communities from climate change impacts like extreme heat. By using HPI: EHE's Environment indicator, users can compare different communities across California, identify those most affected by high pollution, restricted park access, and limited flood resilience. California initiatives like the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program can leverage these indicators to identify communities to prioritize investments for climate resilience.
Community Resiliency Centers- Community members, leaders, and CBOs are experts in the needs, assets, and priorities of their neighborhoods and residents, including strategies to build community resilience to climate change. Residents and CBOs can use the HPI: EHE to identify areas that are most well suited to building or retrofitting community resilience centers in their neighborhood.
Research: Researchers can apply HPI: EHE to examine the connection between access to green spaces and the effects of extreme heat in various communities broken down by race and ethnicity. Similarly, epidemiologists can use HPI: EHE to explore the relationship between social determinants of health, extreme heat, and health outcomes like asthma, heart attacks, and diabetes in different neighborhoods. Both approaches can guide best-practice policy recommendations in urban planning and shape equitable programs and interventions.
