Keith said that for the most part, the rising temperatures haven’t been enough to convince most Americans that heat is a serious threat — yet.

“Even though the awareness is growing, we really haven’t had this watershed moment, or what I call a ‘heatshed’ moment, where we’ve said, ‘We really need to take this seriously as a climate risk,’” Keith told Stateline.

Southern experience

But public officials in some states are focused on the threat.

The New York State Department of Health is one of 13 recipients, mostly state and local agencies across the country, of a CDC climate resilience grant. Neil Muscatiello, who heads the department’s bureau of environmental health, said the goal is “to identify how we think climate change is going to be impacting New Yorkers, particularly vulnerable populations, and then work on adaptations or interventions to help reduce those risks.”

The agency, noting that people can fall ill at lower temperatures, recently changed New York’s heat alert threshold from 100 degrees to 95 degrees. Last week, it was tracking emergency room visits and coordinating with other state and local agencies on getting vulnerable people to cooling centers.

Muscatiello said the department is also learning from other jurisdictions that have dealt with heat for years.

“It is a really collaborative process, not only with CDC, but also with other state partners. We’re always interested to hear what they’re doing.”

Southern cities and states have long integrated heat resilience into their public health programs and have lessons to share.

In 2021, Miami-Dade County, Florida, became the first jurisdiction in the world with a chief heat officer. Since then, Phoenix and other cities have followed suit.

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