What can be learned from the Pacific Northwest’s 2021 heat wave

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A new report reveals strategies to prevent the hundreds of deaths tied to the prolonged heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest for several weeks in late June and July 2021, leading to a widespread public health emergency that strained the state’s emergency and healthcare systems. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced.

Can Seattle take the heat? Officials say area is better prepared this summer

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Emergency officials say the Seattle area is better prepared for extreme temperatures this summer than it was before the Northwest’s deadly heat dome of 2021. But making the region thoroughly heat-proof could take many years, and climate activists say government is not moving with the urgency that a climate crisis deserves. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced.

Saving lives from extreme heat: Lessons from the deadly 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave

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The heat dome that descended upon the Pacific Northwest in late June 2021 met a population radically unprepared for it. Dr. Jason Vogel, Climate Impacts Group, and Dr. Brian Henning, Gonzaga University, co-authored this article for the Conversation. The Climate Impacts Group’s latest report on extreme heat in Washington State is referenced. This story was also run in the Lake County News, Kiowa County Press, Times Union, Fast Company, the Everett Daily Herald and the Daily News.

Climate Impacts Group & partners release report in English and Spanish aimed at preventing heat-related illness and death in Washington

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An image of people gathered in groups on a hill, silhouetted against a light-blue sky. Text says, "In the Hot Seat: Saving Lives from Extreme Heat in Washington State"

Texto en español a continuación

Two years ago, in the summer of 2021, Washington experienced the deadliest weather disaster in the state’s history with days of record-breaking heat. More Washingtonians died from heat exposure each day during the 2021 heat dome than die from heat exposure in a typical summer.

The devastating impacts of the heat dome, coupled with projections that extreme heat events will be more frequent and more intense as the climate changes, serve as a call to action to address heat vulnerability across our state. 

In the hot seat: Saving lives from extreme heat in Washington state describes the problem of extreme heat and outlines specific, actionable guidance for short-term emergency response and long-term risk reduction. From creating culturally-specific cooling centers, to increasing tree canopy and shade in certain urban areas, to improving protections for workers, the report highlights roles state and local governments, elected officials, community- and faith-based organizations and others can play in addressing this important issue.  

The 22-page report was authored by scientists at the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group, the Center for Health and the Global Environment at UW, Washington Department of Health, the Office of the Washington State Climatologist and Gonzaga University. 

READ THE REPORT

An image of people gathered in groups on a hill, silhouetted against a light-blue sky. Text says, "En La Línea de Fuego: Salvando vidas del calor extremo en el estado de Washington"

El Grupo de Impactos Climáticos/Climate Impacts Group y sus socios publican un informe destinado a prevenir enfermedades y muertes relacionadas con el calor en Washington

Hace dos años, en el verano de 2021, Washington experimentó el desastre climático más mortífero en la historia del estado con días de calor y temperaturas récord. Más habitantes de Washington murieron por exposición al calor cada día durante el domo de calor de 2021 que por exposición al calor en un verano típico.

Los impactos devastadores del domo de calor, junto con las proyecciones que los eventos de calor extremo serán más frecuentes e intensos a medida que cambie el clima, por lo que sirven como un llamado a la acción para abordar la vulnerabilidad al calor en todo nuestro estado.

En la Línea de Fuego: Salvando Vidas del Calor Extremo en el Estado de Washington describe el problema del calor extremo y contiene una guía práctica y específica para la respuesta a emergencias a corto plazo, así como la reducción de riesgos a largo plazo. Desde la creación de centros de enfriamiento culturalmente relevantes hasta el aumento de la copa de los árboles, así como estructuras de sombra en ciertas áreas urbanas y la mejora de la protección de los trabajadores, el informe destaca los roles que los gobiernos estatales y locales, los funcionarios electos, las organizaciones comunitarias y religiosas y otros grupos pueden desempeñar para abordar este importante asunto.

El informe de 22 páginas fue escrito por científicos del Grupo de Impactos Climáticos de la Universidad de Washington, el Centro para la Salud y el Medio Ambiente Global de la UW, el Departamento de Salud de Washington, la Oficina del Climatólogo del Estado de Washington y la Universidad Gonzaga. 

LEER EL INFORME

WA House passes legislation addressing heat, utility service

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The Washington State House passed a new bill aiming to protect vulnerable Washingtonians from dangerous heat waves. Now the legislation awaits Senate approval. If cemented into state law, the bill, HB 1329, would prevent utility services from shutting off residents’ power and water due to nonpayments during National Weather Service heat warnings. Research from the UW Climate Impacts Group is referenced.

CIG scientists publish paper on extreme heat and response options

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Heat waves are becoming more common and intense in Washington state and beyond as a result of climate change, increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses and death. Climate Impacts Group researchers Zach Kearl and Jason Vogel studied the impacts of extreme heat on public health in urban and suburban areas of Washington state. Their resulting paper, Urban extreme heat, climate change, and saving lives: Lessons from Washington state, was recently published in Urban Climate. The paper examines the key factors conditioning public health impacts of extreme heat and a suite of policy options in Washington state.

Kearl and Vogel found extreme heat affects subpopulations differently because of various contextual factors and social determinants of health; this suggests a wide range of policy alternatives is necessary to meaningfully improve health outcomes community wide. Moreover, the array of policy alternatives identified often rely on programs and agencies whose missions do not explicitly prioritize public health. They conclude that without mechanisms for formal coordination among implementing partners and agencies with a role in protecting public health, important policy alternatives that serve vulnerable subpopulations will likely be neglected.

How climate change will impact recreation in the Pacific Northwest

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As the seasons change in Washington state from winter to spring, you can almost hear the collective cheers at the promise of warmer weather and sunnier days. For some, though, this time of year also marks the dreaded end of winter fun, as snow starts melting on the Pacific Northwest’s tallest peaks. But how will climate change affect outdoor recreation, not only during these transitional periods but throughout the year? And what can we expect in the coming years and decades? Dr. Amy Snover is quoted.

“The future isn’t written, meaning we don’t know exactly what will happen. We have already set some climate change impacts in motion, but how bad it is on the ground here in the Northwest depends on how quickly we act to reverse it.” 

– Dr. Amy Snover

Microsoft, Amazon Urge Climate Mitigation At Wash. Summit

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Washington’s insurance industry took a look at the threat of climate change in a summit that included input from executives at Microsoft and Amazon. Amy Snover, who spoke at the summit, is quoted.

“[Climate impacts] will reshape our communities and ecosystems in the Northwest, and climate change matters for all of these communities and ecosystems because they were built and they evolved to cope with the climate of the past. Climate change shifts the foundation of everything that we depend on and everything that’s around us.” – Amy Snover