New Report: Tools for Extreme Heat and Health
of the Nation.

The Biden administration, through the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS), just launched Heat.gov, a website that serves as a hub for extreme heat and the health of the nation by providing clear, science-based information to understand and reduce the health risks that can be caused by extreme heat.

NIHHIS was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to bring together all federal programs and agencies that focus on societal heat resilience to improve the federal, state, and local capacity to reduce the health, economic, and infrastructural impacts of the rising temperatures seen in the United States.

Heat.gov presents maps, data, and information from across disciplines that can enable informed decisions by communities and allow planning for heat in the weeks and months ahead. The site features heat information from across federal agencies, heat planning and preparedness guides, as well as interactive tools such as a climate explorer to see projected climate conditions in the U.S. and the CDC’s Heat & Health Tracker. Heat.gov also includes information on NIHHIS programs, events and news articles, heat and health program funding opportunities,
and information to help at-risk communities.

From Nature.com: Stop Blaming Climate for disasters

“Natural hazards such as floods, droughts and heatwaves become disasters as a result of societal vulnerability, that is, a propensity of people, societies and ecosystems to be harmed. Often, people’s social, political and economic status determines the nature of differential and disproportionate impacts1. In addition, many natural hazards are not just natural processes, but have been made more likely and more intense by human-caused climate change2. This has long been recognized3,4,5, yet disasters continue to be construed as an ‘Act of God’ or described as ‘natural’.”

Thanks for Chris Jones for the citation.

New Book available from the National Academy of Sciences: Equitable and Resilient Infrastructure Investments. As usual with the NAS, you can download a pdf version free.

New Report From the National Academy of Sciences: Equitable and Resilient Infrastructure Investments. The report is 60 pages long. Note that downloads are free from the NAS.

From HSToday: Biden Announces FEMA Funding to Tackle Climate Disasters

From The Guardian: Alarm as fastest growing US cities risk becoming unlivable from climate crisis. Some of the cities enjoying population boom are among those gripped by a ferocious heatwave and seeing record temperatures

“The ferocious heatwave that is gripping much of the US south and west has highlighted an uncomfortable, ominous trend – people are continuing to flock to the cities that risk becoming unlivable due to the climate crisis.

Some of the fastest-growing cities in the US are among those currently being roasted by record temperatures that are baking the more than 100 million Americans under some sort of extreme heat warning. More than a dozen wildfires are engulfing areas from Texas to California and Alaska, with electricity blackouts feared for places where the grid is coming under severe strain.                                                   ‘

From HSToday: OIG Assesses FEMA’s Public Assistance Alternative Procedures.

The Office of Inspector General OIG assessed whether Public Assistance Alternative Procedures (PAAP) for permanent work projects sped disaster recovery, increased the accuracy of cost estimates to restore facilities, improved the effectiveness of financial incentives and disincentives, the cost effectiveness of PAAP, and whether the PAAP independent expert panel was effective.

Why Vulnerability Still Matters -The Politics of Disaster Risk Creation, Edited by Greg Bankoff and Dorothea Hilhorst. Routledge, 2022. Softcover, 240 pp. List price: $35.96, ISBN 9781032113432

Reviewer: Jono Anzalone, EdD, Nonprofit Leader and Disaster Expert

Why Vulnerability Still Matters -The Politics of Disaster Risk Creation provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of vulnerability, disaster risk, and political systems. The book’s three sections build upon each other quite nicely in first understanding 1) why vulnerability ability still matters 2) how  vulnerability, conflict, and state-society relations manifest, and 3) understanding topical areas of disaster risk of creation.The lead author, Bankoff, brings more than 30 years of research and understanding of community resilience and risk analysis led to finding an all-star set of contributors that add richness and depth to each of the topical areas. The co-editor, Dorothea Hilhorst, also brings extensive humanitarian experience and research on the topics of humanitarian accountability and conflict.

The 17 contributing authors in the text make up extensive experience and richness in each of the chapters stemming from how disaster risk is created to call disaster risk relates to gendered vulnerability. On the topic of gender, the editors did a phenomenal job ensuring a diverse perspective of genders from the contributing authors. Equally important is the diverse geographical representation that each of the contributors represents. One area of improvement for the text is to increase the inclusion of lived experiences from the global south, which would add contextual relevance to the topic of memorability and disaster risk creation.

Overall, I believe this text would be a great read as a supplementary text for upper-level undergraduate courses and graduate education. The textbook price of $35.96 for the paperback or electronic book copy for the same price creates an economically accessible price point for inclusion in course materials. I also recommend this text for practitioners in the field and headquarters environment to better understand the politics of disaster risk creation.

From HSToday: FEMA, AARP Release New Resources to Help Local Communities Protect Older Adults Before, During and After Natural Disasters, Older adults are disproportionately impacted by the types of weather-related emergencies and natural disasters that are becoming increasingly frequent and severe.

The Diva highly recommends the Handbook to those of you who plan programs for seniors.