Desert Research Institute’s Post

Meet Charles Ellison, Chief Strategist at B|E Strategy and partner with the Smart Surfaces Coalition. He’s raising awareness about the urgent need for proactive heat strategies amidst record-breaking heat waves sweeping the US. ☀️ Charles emphasizes that treating heat waves as routine weather events won’t suffice. Reporters often fail to connect heat waves to the worsening climate crisis, and policymakers settle for reactive measures like “Code Red” alerts. Yet, there’s a more proactive path forward: prioritizing Smart Surface solutions, like reflective roofs and urban greening, to mitigate heat’s impact. 🌳 Let’s shift the dialogue from casual weather talk to urgent #ClimateAction. Read the full article to dive deeper into Charles Ellison’s insights and discover why heat waves demand immediate attention. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gGr5DPNh

Great article by my colleague Carlos Claussell. I, too, find myself saying "no" to my 5-year-old when she wants to play outside during sweltering days. I have had to find and pay for indoor playground options which is heartbreaking. I will continue to fight and advocate for tree planting and other initiatives to address this issue. We must also actively work to help residents who are dealing with the impacts of extreme heat and don't have the resources to cope with it today. Environmental justice is working on long-term solutions while providing short-term relief to those suffering from years of disinvestment. #treeadvocacy #climatechange #extremeheat #enviromentaljustice

You really want to read my colleague Carlos Claussell's essay about urban heat islands, green spaces and climate justice on Time's website! https://lnkd.in/eMY3DF4y How we build and what we plant in neighborhoods can make up to 18 degrees difference on a hot day. And 18 degrees when the temperatures are already setting records can produce life-threatening heat conditions. Read more, and think about how you can make a difference in how we plan, create and manage green spaces in our urban communities.

Current heat index in DC: 105°F Current read: Carlos Claussell's latest piece in TIME on urban heat islands and power of trees to make these areas cooler, safer, and more equitable. https://lnkd.in/eBnNSqvs

"Nature can be our ally in helping people adapt to an increasingly inhospitable climate. We need to rethink how we develop our cities and the built environment. It’s not just about planting more trees; it’s about integrating nature-based solutions into our urban planning." https://lnkd.in/gCwz6GVr #urbanplanning #naturalinfrastructure #txwater

Check out my new blog! #NotEnough

“Any time before midnight, that water was too hot." That’s Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla talking. He says his house was so stifling last summer he couldn’t have a shower until midnight. Jimmy recounts how he once left a candle in another public home. “I put it there and I came back a few days later and it was gone, melted. That’s when I realised how it really is, and how hot it’s gonna get.” The ABC reports Jimmy’s experiment is backed up in a 2022 study co-authored by Norman Frank Jupurrurla and Dr Simon Quilty. It found poor design in remote houses created “heat caves”. The result was homes that sucked up more energy and left users of pre-paid electricity cards facing frequent disconnections. Chronic disease sufferers who needed to refrigerate medication were left “particularly vulnerable”. It also confirmed what Norman and Dr Quilty had long known — the future of remote housing desperately needed to be re-envisaged. Simon and Norman have set up Wilya Janta as a way to bring Country and housing together — Wilya Janta is a First Nations housing corporation creating culturally appropriate housing on Warumungu Country. The project, which means standing strong, works with traditional owners, medical professionals, architects and local tradespeople to right the failure of remote housing in Jurnkkurakurr, where Norman lives (Tennant Creek). This is a beautiful presented story by Rachel Mounsey and Tessa Flemming for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). While nearly 1 in 3 Australian households have rooftop solar, people without housing, or with inadequate poorly-designed housing and a lack of affordable reliable electricity, are being left behind. Social and public housing across the country urgently needs to be made energy efficient and climate appropriate. Global warming and inadequate housing is putting First Nations communities in remote and regional areas at risk. Poor housing and unreliable electricity contributes to poor health. Having access to cheap, reliable clean power and energy efficient homes must be a minimum standard. Thanks for this story by Words: Rachel Mounsey and Tessa Flemming Photographer: Rachel Mounsey Production: Tessa Flemming Access it in the comments. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Aboriginal Housing Northern Territory (AHNT) Territory Families, Housing and Communities

As summer gets underway and cities are tasked with developing heat mitigation and adaptation plans, I have been thinking about what this looks like for Dallas and other urban heat island cities. Check out my latest blog.

If you find yourself in West Virginia in February or June, especially on Friday afternoon, you might be without power... As climate change alters our weather patterns, residents and citizens alike must account for stresses on the power grid and the potential for changes in outages. Oak Ridge National Laboratory in TN does a great job with the Eagle-I dataset which tracks the number of outages (meters) across space and time down to the county level. On a whim, I poked around with the data to get a picture of outages in the Mountain State. Though my opening gives away the punchline, the figure below displays those patterns. It's worth a look because in the future, community resilience and economic development, including business activity, will be prey to these patterns as they change with the weather (pun intended 😉). Take a look. #WestVirginia #Energy #publicpolicy #powergrid #electricity #publicutility #weather #climate #communityresilience #economicdevelopment

Can chief heat officers protect US cities from extreme heat?   This is a great article on the increasing dangers of extreme heat in cities and the role of appointed chief heat officers (CHOs). It features the experiences of CHOs in U.S. cities, how learn from each other, and how they collaborate with chief resilience and sustainability officers. While these officials are appointed and do not have a lot of political power and authority, they are important advocates and planners and have impact on their communities and cities. They can also play a key role in helping FEMA establish a formula to reimburse states for losses incurred during heat waves, as FEMA does not currently declare and respond to heat waves as disasters.   The article also includes comments and insights from Richard C. Keller, a historian of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has done extensive research on heat waves as social and ecological disasters in Europe, particularly the devastating impacts of the 2003 European Heat Wave in Paris.   The story was produced by Grist and co-published with USA TODAY.