Climate

Explore resources from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's first Heat Preparedness Week.

Written by Sasha Shyduroff, Jeanette Pantoja

In the Greater Boston region, we’re experiencing more frequent and intense heat waves, as well as generally rising temperatures. 2020 marked the hottest summer globally, with 14 days over 90 degrees in Boston. By the 2030s, scientists predict we could more than double that and have 41 days of 90 degrees due to climate change. In 2021, the first day over 90 degrees already occurred—in May.

Extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather events in the United States and can exacerbate existing health conditions. And the effects aren’t experienced equally: the impacts of extreme heat are greater in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, where historic disinvestment has resulted in less access to green space, fewer street trees, and inadequate housing and cooling infrastructure. These impacts will only intensify as climate change causes temperatures to increase and humidity to rise.

Members of the public, policymakers, and decision-makers across the region must continue to elevate the urgency and impacts of extreme heat. As our MAPC colleagues shared in a recent Commonwealth Magazine Op-Ed, community-centered planning and decision-making will be critical to protecting the most vulnerable this—and every future—summer.

That’s why the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Greater Boston’s regional planning agency, launched the inaugural “Heat Preparedness Week” during the third week of May this year, leading up to the unofficial start of summer: Memorial Day Weekend. Throughout the week, we sought to draw attention to this topic, hosting events and highlighting projects across the region that serve to address and reduce extreme heat.

Those projects include:

So, what can you do to learn more and spread the word about climate-driven heat in the region?

Watch:

As a part of Heat Preparedness Week, MAPC, MyWRA, and Museum of Science Boston co-hosted a forum on the intersections of climate change, heat, and health in the Greater Boston area. Speakers highlight projects across the Greater Boston area addressing the issues of rising and extreme temperatures, public health, equity, and climate change via short presentations and a panel discussion.

For the second installment in MAPC’s ACR Speaker Series and as a part of Heat Preparedness Week, Jacqueline Patterson, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, joined MAPC for a conversation about work to address climate change and advance a just transition to a clean, cooperative, and resilient economy.

Learn:

Reflect

How do you experience heat? How do you cool down? We’re working with the Metro Mayors Coalition to create a plan to address heat-related health concerns and reduce heat islands in Metro Boston. We want to hear from you.

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