The successful community science campaign leveraged NOAA leadership and scientific rigor with the additional organization of local community and government groups to compile a heat dataset that can be used to minimize extreme heat risk in cities across the country.

On July 28th and 29th, the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) hosted discussions on the urgent challenges of extreme heat in urban areas and in occupational settings. The discussions were moderated by Thomson Reuters reporters, and featured experts from government, academia, and industry.

The symposium will help determine how NOAA's climate, weather and environmental information can be usefully applied to and better serve the health community in predicting and managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer, citizen scientists will map hot spots, known as “urban heat islands,” in 13 cities across the country to help communities identify areas where they can take action to protect people from heat stress.

To reduce the risk of heat illness that arrives with hot days, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) encourages municipalities to gather data and produce a map of their community’s hottest neighborhoods. Pending availability of federal funds, NIHHIS intends to provide financial support to 20 cities where groups are willing to organize and run volunteer mapping campaigns, and then engage municipal leaders in addressing their issues of urban heat. The application for funding is now available.