A new National Heat Strategy to coordinate federal agency work on heat planning, response and resilience is a crucial step forward in addressing the impacts of extreme heat, two Duke scholars said this week.

The National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) unveiled the initiative Wednesday.

“Federal leadership is crucial for addressing the growing impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable populations across the United States,” says Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability. “This report represents years of dedicated work by NIHHIS and its partners. They have developed a sound, evidence-based strategy that can be implemented with the right resources.”

The initiative will empower local policymakers by helping them understand the overlapping effects of severe heat on their constituencies, Ward said. This will help them develop effective policy solutions.

“The strategy’s emphasis on local engagement is its hidden strength,” she said.  “By recognizing the diversity of heat impacts across different communities, it’s setting the stage for a nuanced, bottom-up approach to resilience.”

The new federal initiative promises to improve the way governments communicate about heat risks and educate citizens about the perils of extreme heat, said Jordan Clark, senior policy associate at the Heat Policy Innovation Hub.

“The central repository for heat messaging envisioned by the strategy might sound simple, but it's a game-changer,” Clark said. “By prioritizing multilingual, culturally competent heat communication, this strategy acknowledges a critical truth -- effective heat response depends on reaching every community, not just the easiest to access.

“NIHHIS has set the foundation upon which state and local governments can build to ensure heat-resilient communities.”

Duke’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub is the nation’s first program dedicated to cross-disciplinary research on extreme heat policy and practice.