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Climate Services for Coping with Climate Change, Drought, and
Extreme Heat in the México-U.S. Border Region
As of March 2017, the work groups are taking actions to move
the project forward, and increase the region’s resilience to
extreme heat. Key actions include improving understanding of
vulnerabilities to extreme heat, developing data and information
resources, assessing the state of knowledge, garnering funding
through collaborative projects, and writing papers on built
environment strategies for reducing urban heat risks (Table 1).
Table 1. 2016-17 RGB NIHHIS Pilot Projects.
Action
Description
Assess Vulnerability
Develop and distribute surveys, in El Paso and Las
Cruces, to identify community vulnerability to extreme
heat, and the reasons for perceived vulnerabilities (e.g.,
lack of transportation to cooling centers, or lack of air
conditioning).
Inventory Data and
Information
Develop databases and catalogs to assess the regional state
of knowledge and expertise, related to public health and
climate, including: (a) catalog of regional public health,
and weather or climate experts, with information on points
of contact, area of expertise, and languages spoken; (b)
inventory of public health, weather and climate datasets,
with information such as spatial resolution, start and
end dates, and where to access the data; and (c) catalog
of regional capacity and initiatives, such as community
organizations and government programs.
Assess State of
Knowledge
Write an initial assessment of the state of knowledge
regarding extreme heat and public health in the region,
including information on existing research, public health
statistics, and interdisciplinary research and outreach gaps
and needs.
Understand Built
Environment
Responses
Develop a white paper about the effects of the built
environment on human health, with sections on existing
work, recommendations, and strategies for regional
infrastructure projects to reduce urban heat.
Maintain Progress
Write funding proposals, to address key research and
outreach needs, including experimental long-lead extreme
heat forecasts.
Source: Own elaboration
