Dozens of community members, city officials and climate advocates gathered to hear from public policy and emergency preparedness experts at the Extreme Heat Summit, held at the Cooley Landing Learning Center in East Palo Alto on Sunday.
The event was organized by the leaders of the 2024 Bay Area Heat Mapping Campaign — a study of local heat distribution — and marked the launch of the Cool Cities Coalition, an organization dedicated to combating extreme heat, the deadliest weather hazard in the US.
Presenters emphasized the importance of recognizing warning signs of heat stroke and knowing the location of cooling centers around the city, particularly for vulnerable populations such as the elderly or those without air conditioning.
Julia Zeitlin, an incoming sophomore at Stanford and one of the event’s organizers, said the site — a natural cooling center due to the Bay’s breeze — symbolized the organization’s priority of collaboration.
“We’re trying to build bridges across city borders to bring together residents from Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and beyond,” Zeitlin said.
By contrast, the concentrated human activity, heat-absorbing materials and lack of natural landscapes found in urban areas exacerbate the risk of extreme heat posed by global warming.
Nueva senior Skye Calegari-Buster said he attended the event to learn about various cooling solutions including increased tree coverage and green spaces and requiring cooler reflective roofs on new buildings.
“Urban planning is essential to how a city functions,” Calegari-Buster said. “A lot of the infrastructure isn’t meant to accommodate climate change.”
But with limited federal support behind climate-forward policies, Zeitlin said local communities and schools are essential to enacting change.
“Students have a really great opportunity to push for climate solutions when other leaders and adults in the community and across governments are not taking action,” Zeitland said.
Similarly, East Palo Alto Mayor Martha Barragan said events like the summit give youth a platform to join the climate movement.
Ultimately, Zeitlin said she hopes attendees leave the event feeling inspired and excited to take action.
“I know this is a very dark and challenging topic,” Zeitlin said. “But there’s steps that we can take to be prepared.”
Despite the challenges, Zeitlin said positivity is imperative.
“Start talking about these issues with your friends and family and start looking for people who are excited to take action,” Zeitlin said. “When you take action in a way that you can see the impact, that can overcome a lot of these feelings of helplessness.”
