Choosing the ideal location for air-conditioned cooling centers in cities facing dangerously high temperatures takes good population data and community engagement.
The health effects of heat waves hit some communities harder than others. People with preexisting health conditions, as well as those who have low income or are physically or socially isolated, very old or very young, from racial or ethnic minority groups, or experiencing homelessness, are more at risk for hospitalization and mortality when faced with extreme heat.
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In metropolitan areas, public officials have enacted heat mitigation efforts, including providing air-conditioned cooling centers in public places such as government buildings. Watkins et al. developed a tool to identify optimal sites for these cooling centers and help ensure access for those who need it the most.
The team collaborated with groups such as the Arizona Cooling Center Working Group and focused on Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., metropolitan areas where temperatures frequently top 100°F. Nearly 3,000 emergency room visits stemming from heat-related illnesses occur in the state each year. The researchers chose the two cities to demonstrate that their tool-developed with commercially available software and publicly available data-could be tailored to cities with different sizes, needs, and data availability.
The team used the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Building Resilience Against Climate Effects framework, which was designed to help health officials prepare for the effects of climate change. They also referred to the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index to identify census tracts with high-risk populations and considered barriers that may prevent people from using cooling centers, including a lack of awareness that such centers exist.
After identifying the locations of existing centers, the researchers identified candidate facilities that could serve as potential cooling center locations, including churches, health care centers, hotels, schools, shelters, and government facilities. The new workflow is designed to be reproducible in other locations by governments and partners with varying resources. The researchers say the work could ultimately improve heat resilience for community members affected by extreme heat.