Former Atlanta climate policies director: City must do more to keep communities safe from extreme heat

June 30th, 2023

This map of a portion of Atlanta shows some of the data collected by volunteer community scientists with UrbaHeatATL. The program has collected over 100 hours of temperature information so far.

Courtesy of UrbanHeatATL

The National Weather Service forecasts metro Atlanta will cook just as much as what’s on your grill over the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Heat index values are expected to surge above the 105-degree mark in the Atlanta area. Other areas of the state could feel temperatures in the 100°-110° range.

That’s as more frequent, intense heat waves are plaguing the South. That pattern isn’t going away, according to Dr. Jairo Garcia, who lectures on environment, health and climate change at Georgia Tech. Garcia is also the former Director of Climate Policies and Renewables with the City of Atlanta.

He’s also helped lead an initiative called Urban Heat Atlanta, which maps Atlanta’s temperatures to help those most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and the dangers of extreme heat.

Garcia joined WABE’s “Morning Edition” to discuss what other sustainable urban development practices lawmakers and city officials can take, what the Urban Heat ATL project has mapped and heat safety practices.

According to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, extreme heat killed more than 70 people in Georgia from 2016 until 2020.

The CDC does not have emergency room visit data for Georgia related to heat-related illness. But for perspective, in Florida in 2021, more than 4,200 people went to the emergency room while suffering from a heat-related illness.