Realtime Climate Heat Risk

Realtime Climate Heat Risk alerts provide notifications about dangerous heat, and guidance for vulnerable patients to frontline clinics across the United States.

Alerts are sent by email, and include dates and severity of expected heat, descriptions of at-risk patients, and resources to help clinics protect their patients. The program is a collaboration between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Climate Central.

👉 Sign Up

These heat alerts are location-specific and are distributed using Climate Central’s Realtime Climate alert system. This heat alert system was developed and tested with health clinics across the U.S. in summer 2023, and has been updated with additional content, including dangerous heat forecasts from the NOAA/CDC HeatRisk tool.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the intended audience?

Heat Risk alerts are meant for practitioners and administrators at healthcare facilities. The alerts contain information that clinicians can use to provide individualized support to patients. Staff can also utilize the alerts to send out guidance and resources to vulnerable patients ahead of expected heat events.

What can I expect after signing up?

We will provide you with real-time information about upcoming heat events, patients at high risk for heat-related health effects, and actions to mitigate these effects.

You will receive email alerts up to five days before an expected heat event, during a sustained heat event, and when heat severity has been upgraded during an event.

What resources do you provide?

The alerts include links to the Harvard/Americares Heat Toolkit, as well as CDC resources for excessive heat. The toolkit includes heat action plans and disease-specific information, resources to send directly to patients in both English and Spanish, and guidance on heat preparedness for administrators.

What do the alerts look like?

The alerts are designed to make it easy to find the information you need. The subject line provides color-coded heat severity:

🟠 HEAT ALERT - Moderate

🔴 HEAT ALERT - Major

🟣 HEAT ALERT - Extreme

The message body includes upcoming heat-risk days, actions with links to resources, and a description of who is at risk.

Contact info

For subscriptions, tech support, or distribution: health@climatecentral.org

For clinical resources, project design, or collaborations: Caleb Dresser, cdresser@hsph.harvard.edu

For media: Anna Miller, amiller@hsph.harvard.edu or Karen Florini, kflorini@climatecentral.org