The Biden administration unveiled a tool Friday that identifies heat-related risks and illness at the ZIP code level that it said will help local and state governments protect people from soaring temperatures driven by climate change.
The Heat and Health Index attempts to identify where people are most vulnerable to heat-related health risks by tracking exposure to excessive heat days and heat-related EMS trips. It also breaks down by ZIP code other major components that determine heat risk, such as prevalence of medical conditions like asthma or social factors such as age or residents who live alone.
“It is meant to fill a gap in helping to identify at a geographic scale those areas that are at the highest risk of adverse health outcomes,” said John Balbus, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity.
The launch comes just days after a heat wave scorched Texas and the Southeast in what climate scientists contend could become the hottest year ever recorded, surpassing last year’s record level. Balbus said the tool complements federal programs for tree-planting and cooler roofing materials that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law.
