May 8, 2020

An Open Letter to Emergency Preparedness Planners and Public Health Practitioners in Ohio

Extreme heat is the #1 weather-related killer, particularly in urban areas throughout the Midwest United States that are considered heat islands. This year, 2020, is on track to be Earth’s warmest year on record (already the 10th warmest Jan-Apr for the United States and 9th warmest Jan-Apr for Ohio).^[1] Climate change is amplifying the water cycle leading to increased moisture in the atmosphere. This limits nighttime temperatures from falling to comfortable levels and leads to warmer morning temperatures sooner the next day. Since 1980, much of the Midwest has seen a 2 to 5 percent per decade increase in the warmest (i.e. 90th percentile) nights.

In the past, we have seen heat waves, such as the 1995 event in Chicago, kill hundreds of individuals with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations.^[2] Over the past two decades, plans have been developed in many urban areas across the United States to provide support to vulnerable populations before and during extreme heat events. In drafting the Columbus Climate Change Adaptation Plan,^[3] our team included guidance on the development of such a plan for Columbus. But, our team’s guidance did not anticipate extreme heat events coincident with a pandemic; while the guidance was based on best practices at the time, it is ill-suited to current social distancing recommendations. For instance, since not all individuals have air conditioning or the means to pay the utility bills that are associated with its use, many adaptation actions for extreme heat direct individuals to visit facilities such as community pools, recreation centers, and libraries or air-conditioned commercial infrastructure such as shopping centers. All of these facilities are either currently closed and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future or operating with strictly-enforced limited occupancy. Similarly, non-profit organizations and social service agencies often provide fans, air conditioners, and utility bill assistance, but these organizations and agencies are likely to have their budgets adversely impacted and/or their staff overwhelmed with service requests.

Summer is just around the corner, and our team wants to bring this concern to your attention now while there is still time to prepare. An active conversation is taking place in the researcher and practitioner communities because of concerns about extreme events (including extreme heat, rainfall, tornadoes, and hurricanes to name a few) coinciding with the current pandemic and social distancing. A webinar on this topic will take place on Wednesday, May 13 hosted by the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine online at go.osu.edu/extremeeventsandcovid19.

We do not have specific practices to suggest at this time as these measures must be collaboratively developed in light of today’s unprecedented circumstances. Our team feels that an effort engaging the entire state or at least involving the state’s largest cities would be the most effective way to develop consistent guidance that may then be contextualized to individual circumstances. We are happy to participate in this process.

Regards,

Jason Cervenec – cervenec.1@osu.edu, Education & Outreach Director, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center

Marium Husain, MD, MPH - marium.husain@osumc.edu, OSU James Comprehensive Cancer Center

Kathi Kemper, MD, MPH - kathi.kemper@osumc.edu, Department of Pediatrics, OSU College of Medicine

Bryan Mark, PhD - mark.9@osu.edu, Professor & State Climatologist, Department of Geography & Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center

Aaron B. Wilson - wilson.1010@osu.edu, Research Scientist, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and OSU Extension

Robyn S. Wilson, PhD - wilson.1376@osu.edu, Professor of Risk Analysis & Decision Science, OSU School of Environment and Natural Resources