ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY TAG- Hot topics, Cool solutions: community Resilience During Heatwaves
Tuesday, August 29th, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
MEETING RECAP
This month’s E&S TAG meeting was a collaborative community brainstorming session to determine what local resources are available for heatwave preparedness. We would like to give a special thank you to our "fishbowl" participants with voices including Nuestra Casa, Senior Coastsiders, North Fair Oaks Community Alliance, Climate Resilient Communities and more!
We heard from experts about solutions for heatwave mitigation. Solutions encompassed a range of technologies and practices, including air purifiers, swamp coolers, solar-powered batteries, and thermal blinds for windows. We considered QR codes for emergency alerts, educating residents about cooling center locations, and using heat risk maps. Cooling centers also should be more accommodating and welcoming for people, with amenities to meet diverse needs, not just gymnasiums.
One prominent solution that emerged from our discussions was the importance of increasing the green canopy within our community. Canopy, a nonprofit dedicated to planting and caring for trees in areas that need them most, disseminated important information on how vital it is to foster green canopies in the hot city. Planting more trees is a key solution, as they can lower local temperatures by 10 degrees and reduce surface heat, enhancing community resilience.
Another critical aspect emphasized during our discussions was the significance of community cohesion. We heard interest in bolstering educational initiatives and cross-collaboration between nonprofits and local governments to address heat wave mitigation. Building relationships with neighbors holds paramount importance, as it facilitates better organization and preparedness in the event of a disaster. This interconnectedness allows the community to identify and support vulnerable individuals who may be at greater risk during high-temperature events.
In communities with chronic air pollution and health issues, we need to go beyond the heat index, considering factors like unusual heat patterns, duration, and vulnerable populations using CDC data for effective heatwave response. We learned that the California EnviroScreen can be a helpful tool for this, which is a map identifying which populations are burdened by multiple pollution sources. Using a systems thinking approach, we brainstormed cross-sector solutions for heat wave preparedness that take into account the views of multiple stakeholders in the community.
