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Front Page » Healthcare » Miami-Dade turns up the heat on extreme heat

Miami-Dade turns up the heat on extreme heat

Written by on December 20, 2022
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
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Miami-Dade turns up the heat on extreme heat

As climate villains go, South Florida hurricanes and flooding may be top of mind on the “Most Not Wanted” list, but extreme heat is No. 1, causing more deaths and negative economic impact than any other weather-related event.

The National Weather Service reports that a 30-year average of weather fatalities shows extreme heat causing more than three times as many deaths as hurricanes and almost two times more than floods.

Late last week, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced the creation of an “Extreme Heat Action Plan” in conjunction with The Miami Foundation and the Resilient 305 partnership.

Each year, extreme heat kills about 34 people in Miami-Dade County. “It also creates economic losses estimated at $10 billion annually,” Mayor Levine Cava said in her report, “due mostly to lost worker productivity.” Climate change and urban development “are creating longer and hotter summers,” the mayor added.

The plan is the first in the county’s history and seeks to mitigate the effects of extreme heat through education, improved personal and familial cooling options, and a combination of blue, green, and grey infrastructure to cool neighborhoods and communities.

“The Extreme Heat Action Plan is a roadmap for protecting our residents, visitors, and economy,” said Mayor Levine Cava. “We will protect people from the risks of extreme heat with solutions that also create economic and environmental benefits for our community.”

Mayor Levine Cava and Chief Heat Officer Jane Gilbert plan to name extreme heat waves, just as hurricanes are named. The county also is retrofitting virtually all public housing units with efficient air conditioning, and expanding the tree canopy cover, currently at 20%, to a goal of 30% by 2030.

The Extreme Heat Action Plan was developed with input from a 15-member Climate and Heat Health Task Force and more than 300 experts, stakeholders, and residents through a series of public workshops and interviews. The Task Force was co-chaired by Ms. Gilbert and Dr. Cheryl Holder with Florida International University.

Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation, said, “This is what it looks like to take the life-threatening impacts of extreme heat seriously.”

Details: https://www.miamidade.gov/environment/library/2022-heat-action-plan.pdf

  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
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