Extreme Heat Experiences, Risk Perceptions, and Responses Among the US Public and Local Policy Makers

Record-breaking extreme heat events continue to negatively affect human health and well-being. Despite growing research on extreme heat and human health as well as emerging efforts to build climate resilience across the US, a lack of comprehensive heat governance combined with systemic socio-economic inequities make it difficult to mitigate heat health risks and adapt to a changing climate. Managing heat risks is also challenging due to complex and geographically varying heat-health relationships, societal and demographic changes, and evolving beliefs, risk perceptions, and response capacities. In this presentation, we will discuss results from recent and ongoing NSF-funded research on population vulnerability to extreme heat in the US. Using results from two nationally representative population surveys, conducted in 2020 and 2023, we will discuss geographic and socio-demographic variations in extreme heat experiences, risk perceptions, and responses. We will discuss how populations perceive heat risks and engage in response behaviors and situate these against how policy and decision makers understand their constituents’ perceptions and behaviors. We will conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for heat risk management and building climate resilience.