‘Citizen scientists’ help track urban heat in 14 US communities

Climate research and consulting firm CAPA Strategies is working with NOAA and city and county residents to create a more comprehensive picture of how communities experience heat.

Miami-Dade County leaders recently declared an official “heat season” running from the beginning of May until the end of October, but extreme heat isn’t just a problem for sunny Florida.

Portland, Oregon, last June experienced record-setting temperatures in the 110-degree range during a heat wave linked to hundreds of deaths across the Pacific Northwest. And in the Northeast, Boston’s new mayor recently unveiled a citywide heat resilience framework with strategies to prepare for “hotter summers and more intense heat events,” particularly in communities disproportionately harmed by other environmental factors.

As more cities confront the realities of rising temperatures, a first step toward mitigation is to measure the heat and its impacts, which can vary notably from neighborhood to neighborhood. One concern is how urban heat island effects are greater in areas where environmental justice issues already disadvantage certain residents’ health and well-being.

Portland-based CAPA Strategies, a data analytics firm focused largely on climate adaptation, is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to set local governments up with tools that allow volunteers to serve as “citizen scientists” to help gather data on heat levels around their communities.

The program has grown from three cities and counties to 14 this summer: Boulder, Colorado; Clark County, Nevada (home to Las Vegas); Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Montgomery County, Maryland (outside of Washington, D.C.); Omaha, Nebraska; Spokane, Washington; Philadelphia; Brooklyn, New York; and San Francisco.