How Blackouts during Heat Waves Amplify Mortality and Morbidity Risk.

The recent concurrence of electrical grid failure events in time with extreme temperatures is compounding the population health risks of extreme weather episodes. Here, we combine simulated heat exposure data during historical heat wave events in three large U.S.

Overcoming Barriers to Successful Climate and Health Adaptation Practice: Notes from the Field.

State and local public health agencies are at the forefront of planning and responding to the health challenges of climate hazards but face substantial barriers to effective climate and health adaptation amidst concurrent environmental and public health crises. To ensure successful adaptation, it is necessary to understand and overcome these barriers. The U.

Extreme Heat Exposure: Access and Barriers to Cooling Centers - Maricopa and Yuma Counties, Arizona, 2010-2020.

Extreme heat exposure increases the risk for heat-related illnesses (HRIs) and deaths, and comprehensive strategies to prevent HRIs are increasingly important in a warming climate (1). An estimated 702 HRI-associated deaths and 67,512 HRI-associated emergency department visits occur in the United States each year (2,3). In 2020, Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona, experienced a record 145 and 148 days, respectively, of temperatures >100°F (37.

Compound Climate and Infrastructure Events: How Electrical Grid Failure Alters Heat Wave Risk.

The potential for critical infrastructure failures during extreme weather events is rising. Major electrical grid failure or "blackout" events in the United States, those with a duration of at least 1 h and impacting 50,000 or more utility customers, increased by more than 60% over the most recent 5 year reporting period. When such blackout events coincide in time with heat wave conditions, population exposures to extreme heat both outside and within buildings can reach dangerously high levels as mechanical air conditioning systems become inoperable.

Mapping Human Vulnerability to Extreme Heat: A Critical Assessment of Heat Vulnerability Indices Created Using Principal Components Analysis.

Background: Extreme heat poses current and future risks to human health. Heat vulnerability indices (HVIs), commonly developed using principal components analysis (PCA), are mapped to identify populations vulnerable to extreme heat. Few studies critically assess implications of analytic choices made when employing this methodology for fine-scale vulnerability mapping.

Physical Activity in the Summer Heat: How Hot Weather Moderates the Relationship Between Built Environment Features and Outdoor Physical Activity of Adults.

Background: Research has not yet examined how hot weather moderates the relationship between the built environment and outdoor physical activity levels. The authors posited that hot days will increase the magnitude of the expected directional effect of built environment features on physical activity.

Methods: This longitudinal study included 134 US adults from the Three city Heat and Electrical failure AdapTation study.