UCLA to lead project to help L.A. County cope with extreme heat

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Los Angeles County is getting hotter. By 2045, the number of annual extreme heat waves in Los Angeles County is likely to increase tenfold. Rising temperatures mean rising risks for everyone, especially the most heat-impacted groups like older adults, young children and people living and working without air conditioning.

The UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) has been awarded a $3 million grant to develop a comprehensive outreach program called Los Angeles Regional Collaborative: Heat Education, Ambassadors, and Training. Funded by the Regional Resilience Grant Program implemented by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, UCLA will lead a campaign over the next two summers to help improve public understanding about and response to the risks of extreme heat.

The effort will be collaboratively designed and implemented by the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative, a network of local governments, agencies and organizations housed at IoES; the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians; the nonprofit organization Rising Communities; and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“This project builds on two summers of work with more than 75 partners throughout L.A. County,” said Erin Coutts, director of the collaborative. “Together we will share actions people can take to prevent serious illness — including simple things like drinking water, seeking shade, resting and checking on others.”

The importance of extreme heat messaging

Extreme heat leads to more than 1,300 deaths per year in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In California, a single 10-day heat wave in September 2022 led to 395 more deaths than the California Department of Public Health would have otherwise expected.

With global warming, Los Angeles County experiences record-high temperatures almost every year. A 2020 heat wave set records in Woodland Hills (121 degrees Fahrenheit), Van Nuys (118) and Pasadena (115). A 2017 heat wave led to the highest temperature ever recorded in the county at Beverly Hills (135).

Scientists offer climate solutions for sustainability in California. Climate change is already here