Resources related to extreme heat for community members and practitioners
Local and State Resources
In 2020, the City Council declared a Climate Emergency and set Tucson on a path to carbon neutrality by 2030. The Climate Action Hub documents progress.
Pima County's website provides tips and resources to help people deal with extreme heat.
Pima Association of Government is a federally designated metropolitan planning organization for Pima County. The Planning Map provides decision-makers with a tool to identify areas that could benefit from green infrastructure and increase heat resilience.
Learn how to recognize, prevent, and treat heat-related illnesses on the Arizona Department of Public Health (AZDPH)'s Extreme Heat portal.
The National Weather Service provides information on current conditions, hazards, forecasts, and local programs for Tucson, Arizona.
National Resources
The National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) is an integrated system that builds understanding of the problem of extreme heat, defines demand for climate services that enhance societal resilience, develops science-based products and services from a sustained climate science research program, and improves capacity, communication, and societal understanding of the problem in order to reduce morbidity and mortality due to extreme heat. The NIHHIS is a jointly developed system by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Heat Island Reduction Program works with local officials, community groups, researchers, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities to implement heat island mitigation policies and projects that create comfortable and sustainable communities.
The Fifth National Climate Assessment was written to help inform decision-makers, utility and natural resource managers, public health officials, emergency planners, and other stakeholders by providing a thorough examination of the effects of climate change on the United States.
The U.S. National Weather Service's HeatRisk Prototype is an index that provides a forecast of risk of heat-related impacts over a 24-hour period. The index gives risk guidance for decision makers and heat-sensitive populations.
Additional Resources
The Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) is an independent, voluntary, member-driven forum of scientists, practitioners, and policy makers focused on improving our capacity to protect populations from the avoidable health risks of extreme heat in a changing climate. GHHIN is spearheaded by the World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization Joint Office for Climate and Health and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office.
The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation developed the Heat Action Platform as a place for city officials, practitioners, and financial institutions to find guidance on reducing the human and economic impacts of extreme heat at the regional or municipal level.