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Extreme Heat

Each year, extreme heat kills more people than any other weather-related cause in the United States and leads to substantial heat-related injuries and illnesses. These health consequences also result in costly health care system expenditures and lower economic productivity. Heat waves, fueled by climate change, have become more intense and more frequent. Accordingly, recent years have been among the hottest on record.

The Center for American Progress advocates for federal and state policies to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat on individuals and communities, particularly those at greatest risk of injury or death due to increased exposure, preexisting health conditions, and other underlying social and economic inequities. These actions include improving the technology to predict heat waves and identify effective interventions; expanding heat resilience protections; ensuring the health care system is resilient and can respond to heat events; and transitioning to a 100 percent clean energy economy to rapidly reduce carbon and other planet-warming pollution, slowing climate change and rising temperatures.

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About Extreme Heat, We Need to Prioritize Children In the News

About Extreme Heat, We Need to Prioritize Children

In an op-ed published by InsideSources, Hailey Gibbs highlights proven strategies that communities and policymakers can adopt to better mitigate the deadly effects of climate change for young children and infants.

InsideSources

Hailey Gibbs

States Must Lead the Way To Protect Workers From Extreme Heat Article
A traffic warden holding up a stop sign with the sun shining behind him

States Must Lead the Way To Protect Workers From Extreme Heat

In the absence of federal action to protect workers from the rising dangers of exposure to extreme heat on the job, states must take the lead—and can look to existing and proposed standards from other localities for guidance.

Jill Rosenthal, Reema Bzeih

CAP’s Comment on the Department of Labor’s Proposed Regulation on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Notice in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings Article

CAP’s Comment on the Department of Labor’s Proposed Regulation on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Notice in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the Department of Labor on the agency’s proposed rule to protect the rising number of workers who are exposed to extreme heat conditions that cause injury, illness, and death across the United States.

Jill Rosenthal, Rosa Barrientos-Ferrer, Kate Petosa

2024 Elections and the Future of Global Climate Ambition Report
Cranes surround the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, England.

2024 Elections and the Future of Global Climate Ambition

As the 2024 elections usher in new leaders and reshuffle political power, the trajectory of climate ambition is at a crossroads, with the potential to accelerate toward meaningful progress or falter in the face of new obstacles.

Kalina Gibson

How Congress Can Protect Families From Dangerous Heat and Ensure Cool and Healthy Homes for All Report
A woman watches as person installs a heat pump

How Congress Can Protect Families From Dangerous Heat and Ensure Cool and Healthy Homes for All

On the heels of record-breaking heat this summer and fall, Congress must act to safeguard low-income Americans from extreme heat by investing in efficient and cost-effective heat pump air conditioning and programs to lower electricity costs for households.

Cathleen Kelly, Lucero Marquez, Jasia Smith

Rising Extreme Heat Compounds the U.S. Maternal Health Crisis Report
A midwife picks greens for a pregnant mother and her daughter.

Rising Extreme Heat Compounds the U.S. Maternal Health Crisis

Policymakers must act to protect the health and safety of pregnant people—including by passing the Protecting Moms and Babies Against Climate Change Act, increasing access to indoor home cooling, and quickly adopting a federal occupational heat standard.

Amina Khalique

Protecting Americans From Extreme Heat Past Event

Protecting Americans From Extreme Heat

Join CAP for an event discussing policy proposals and actions that can protect those most vulnerable to extreme heat.

Center for American Progress

Hear From a Pediatrician: How Extreme Heat Endangers Children’s Health and What We Can Do About It Video

Hear From a Pediatrician: How Extreme Heat Endangers Children’s Health and What We Can Do About It

Dr. Debra Hendrickson, clinical professor of pediatrics and author of The Air They Breathe, explains the risks extreme heat and climate change pose to children's health and the actions parents, communities, and policymakers can take to protect them.

Allie Schneider, Hailey Gibbs, Paige Shoemaker DeMio, 1 More Olivia Mowry

Protecting Older Adults From the Growing Threats of Extreme Heat Report
Older adults at three tables play dominos inside a cooling center.

Protecting Older Adults From the Growing Threats of Extreme Heat

Policymakers must improve heat resilience among older Americans, who face higher risks of extreme heat-related health conditions and deaths, and strengthen the social support and health care systems serving this growing share of the population.

Marquisha Johns, Beth Almeida, Jill Rosenthal

Executive Summary: Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development Fact Sheet
The sun sets in New York City as children cool off.

Executive Summary: Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center of American Progress report highlighting the need for policymakers to take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Allie Schneider, Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Hailey Gibbs, 1 More Lisette Partelow

Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development Report
Children cool off by playing in a fountain in Brooklyn’s Domino Park, New York, during a heat wave.

Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development

As climate change intensifies extreme heat around the globe, policymakers must take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.

Allie Schneider, Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Hailey Gibbs, 1 More Lisette Partelow

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