EPA's Role in Saving Lives in Vulnerable Urban Areas

In the United States, extreme hot weather events account for more deaths per year on average than hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes combined. The trends toward a growing older population and a warmer climate both will act to increase the risk posed by extreme heat events in the future. On the other hand, adaptive measures and technologies seem to be lessening the adverse impacts associated with these events. The latter is a trend we want to encourage and, if possible, accelerate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with partners in government, academia and private sector to develop useful information and analyses that can be applied in responding to and mitigating excessive heat. These efforts have resulted in the production of a number of decision support and education products ranging from an excessive heat response guidebook to a technical report on urban heat island mitigation to videos, posters and fact sheets for the general public.