MAPC and Metro Mayors Release “Keeping Metro Boston Cool: A Regional Heat Preparedness and Adaptation Plan”

Prepared by the Metro Mayors Climate Taskforce, the plan details six strategic focus areas for reducing risk and exposure to and improving preparedness for climate-driven extreme

September 30, 2022 – BOSTON – With summer's relentless heat barely in the rearview mirror, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and a collaboration of 15 Boston area municipalities today released a roadmap of recommended strategies that will enable the region to better prepare for and adapt to rising temperatures and extreme heat due to climate change.

“Hotter and drier than most can ever remember, the summer of 2022 was, unfortunately, not an outlier. Due to the climate crisis, our region can expect a future of similarly sweltering summers that threaten the health and wellbeing of residents – especially vulnerable and disadvantaged populations, as well as the region’s infrastructure, economy and natural resources,” said Sasha Shyduroff, senior clean energy and climate planner at MAPC.

“Detailing impactful strategies across six focus areas, the report is an important new tool that will help Metro Boston prepare for, withstand and adapt to the impacts of this ‘new normal’.” “The Metro Mayors Coalition and Climate Taskforce have played a critical role in fostering a collaborative environment and leveraging regional coordination to tackle climate change. While there are many actions we can take locally to reduce urban heat islands and provide cooling assistance to residents, our work to address extreme heat and other climate impacts is stronger when done together,” said Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosino, chair of the Metro Mayors Coalition.

Heatwaves are the deadliest weather events in the US – nationally, causing more deaths than any other extreme weather. The increased temperatures and more frequent heat waves associated with a warming climate can cause health problems for everyone, but older adults, young children, pregnant people, outdoor workers, and those with pre-existing respiratory or cardio-vascular conditions are at higher risk. In addition, MAPC research has shown that hot weather is especially hard on lower-income, urban neighborhoods that have fewer options for relief from extreme heat. For example, neighborhoods with more paved surfaces, denser development, and fewer trees absorb more heat during the day and don’t cool as much at night, resulting in “heat islands” that can be up to 20 degrees hotter than surrounding suburban areas.

More than a year in the making, “Keeping Metro Boston Cool: A Regional Heat Preparedness and Adaptation Plan” provides strategies and actions to reduce risk and exposure to climate-driven heat and increase preparedness through public health, planning, land use, policy and other municipal and regional actions. With support from MAPC, the report is authored by the Metro Mayors Climate Taskforce. The Taskforce was established in 2015 by the Metropolitan Mayors Council, a collaboration of 15 communities in Boston’s urban core (Arlington, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop). The development of the plan was funded by a State Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant and the Barr Foundation. The Plan’s six strategic focus areas are:

• Cool Communications – Activities include developing a heat-health warning system and heat awareness campaigns that reach those most vulnerable to extreme heat, with communications designed to be culturally and linguistically inclusive of the region’s diverse communities.
• Cool Communities – Activities emphasize increasing and strengthening localized community connection and social cohesion, since isolation and extreme heat exposure can collectively worsen health risks such as depression, anxiety and heart and respiratory dysfunction.
• Cooling Our Homes and Buildings – Activities include retrofitting existing buildings, ensuring new construction is energy efficient, and providing public facilities with access to cooling to make buildings resilient to heat.
• Cooling Our Blocks -Activities center on planting trees in urbanized areas, shading walkways and trails, and including heat resilience features in future open space plans.
• Cooling Our Region – Emphasis is on working together to leverage resources and expertise, since not all municipalities have the same capacity to tackle climate resilience. Activities could include advocating for state and federal policies or using collective procurement and shared services to save money and staff resources.
• Emergency Response – Activities include development of municipal-level heat emergency response plans or heat action plans to help prevent illness and death and reduce impacts on public safety, particularly during multi-day heat waves over 90 degrees. The plan also highlights opportunities to share best practices and resources across the region and to coordinate with other agencies and emergency response providers.

MAPC and the Taskforce will implement the plan over a five- to seven-year timeline, with progress on priority strategies in the first one to two years and ongoing monitoring to foster accountability. The Taskforce will also update the plan to ensure the most current methods and environmental and social data inform future actions. More information about the plan is available at Metro Mayors: Building Resilience to Climate-Driven Heat.