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Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed May 26-June 1 as North Carolina Heat Awareness Week to raise awareness of the state’s continued climate warming trend and highlight newly available state resources to support local communities in their efforts to reduce impacts of extreme heat.
“As our summers continue to get hotter, today’s proclamation raises awareness of the many tools and resources available to keep our communities safe from extreme heat,” said Governor Cooper. “Since the implementation of Executive Order 80 in 2018, state agencies have been working together to protect North Carolinians from impacts of climate change.”
Communities across the state are encouraged to prepare in advance for high summer temperatures and the significant health risks residents and workers experience during hot weather. Summer 2023 was the hottest summer on record globally and 2024 is on pace to be another extremely hot summer. The North Carolina Climate Science Report projects that extreme heat will be one of the most significant climate impacts to the state.
Climate change and its effects on North Carolina have prompted several state agencies to partner in the development of new tools to reduce potential impacts.
In April, the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) launched a Heat Action Plan Toolkit in collaboration with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), N.C. State Climate Office and Duke University Heat Policy Innovation Hub. The toolkit aims to reduce heat-related health impacts and is designed for use by health departments, local governments and other community partners. The toolkit includes a template that can be used to create a heat action plan, public outreach resources, checklists and protocols that can be customized for communities in advance of and during heat wave events.
Outdoor workers, infants and children, older adults, pregnant people, athletes, low-income individuals and people with underlying health conditions are at higher risk for heat-related illnesses.
The NCDHHS Climate and Health Program launched a statewide Heat Health Alert System, beginning this month, to notify subscribers via emailed alerts when the heat index is expected to reach unhealthy levels in their county. The team partnered with the N.C. State Climate Office and Duke University Heat Policy Innovation Hub to expand the system from a subset of counties in eastern North Carolina to all 100 counties in the state. The team also created a communications toolkit and health education materials to help users share alerts and heat health information more widely.
“We want all North Carolinians to enjoy a safe and healthy summer,” said Dr. Susan Kansagra, NCDHHS Assistant Secretary for Public Health. “With more than 3,900 emergency department visits for heat-related illness in North Carolina last summer, preparing for extreme heat at the local level is critical to protecting the health of North Carolina residents and workers.”
In addition to the heat health alert system, the NCDHHS Climate and Health Program operates a Heat-Related Illness Surveillance System each year from May through September to document weekly emergency department visits for heat-related illness in North Carolina. The team publishes weekly statewide reports on its website and shares them with partners to provide timely and actionable public health information for decision-makers at the state and local levels. This year, the reports include new regional summaries and county-level information.
Last week, NCORR announced the new N.C. Resilience Exchange website, an interactive resource to help local and state leaders easily find relevant information in the abundance of climate data available online. The Exchange includes funding opportunities, a directory of experts, interactive mapping tools, sample ordinances and more in a one-stop-shop. The site also fulfills a priority initiative named in the North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan.
“Extreme heat impacts are not new to North Carolina, of course, but projections of extra hot summers are prompting us to increase awareness and encourage taking action before and during heat waves,” said state Chief Resilience Officer Dr. Amanda Martin. “Taking specific steps helps protect people who live, work and vacation in our state.”
Read the 2024 North Carolina Heat Awareness Week proclamation to learn more about the state’s unified efforts to address extreme heat and climate change impacts.
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