Edith de Guzman in WIRED: Extreme Heat Is a Disease for Cities. Treat It That Way

The “urban heat island effect” creates extra-hot temperatures that kill. But cities can prescribe powerful treatments, like green spaces and reflective roofs. It’s critical to know how heat actually feels because people forced to be outside—construction workers, postal workers, the unhoused—are among those most at risk of heat illness and death, says the University of California, Los Angeles’ Edith de Guzman, director and cofounder of the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, a partnership of researchers who work with communities on cooling strategies.