Workshop: Emerging Risks from Concurrent, Compounding and Record-breaking Extreme Heat across Sectors

DESCRIPTION:

Extreme heat is a widely studied climate hazard, yet recent record-breaking heat waves have affected communities across the world and damaged critical infrastructure, cost human lives, and negatively affected public health and agriculture.

These events highlighted knowledge gaps in understanding of the drivers of extreme heat waves, the occurrence of simultaneous heatwaves, the co-occurrences of extreme heat with other climate hazards such as wildfire, and which interventions would most effectively increase resilience in a changing climate.

Recent heat events also highlighted the higher vulnerability of elderly, young people, and outdoor workers, and the higher exposure and vulnerability of historically underserved and low-income communities, and limitations in preparedness and response resources.

There is a need for a coherent, intersectional framework and methodologies to evaluate heat-related risks and inform the design, planning, community adaptation and climate and energy justice efforts.