Heat Protections

The project — funded through the C40 Cool Cities Network’s Heat, Health, and Equity Challenge Fund — began recruiting residents in June, installed sensors in July, and will continue recording temperatures through October. Led by the city’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability (ORS), along with The Miami Foundation and other community-based organizations (CBOs), the effort seeks to close a long-standing “data gap.”

Two-thirds of the dangerously hot days in Florida in recent years were linked to climate change. Symptoms of heat exposure include false labor contractions and even pre-term labor.

There are some proven steps that cities can take to help cool the air – planting trees that provide shade and moisture, for example. But do these steps pay off everywhere?

In collaboration with The Miami Foundation, the initiative will include the installation of indoor and outdoor heat sensors in the homes of about 70 residents to collect survey data on their experiences with extreme heat. The project targets seven climate justice neighborhoods: Overtown, Liberty City, Little Haiti, Allapattah, Little Havana, Flagami and the Little Bahamas.

Extreme temperatures can cause far more than sweaty clothes for people in South Florida, especially outdoor workers, children training outside or people 65 and older with chronic conditions. Amid a barrage of heat advisories, doctors urge the public to pay attention.