About NIHHIS
Heat.gov is the web portal for the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS).
Mission: NIHHIS builds societal understanding of heat risks, develops science-based solutions, and improves capacity, communication, and decision-making to reduce heat-related illness and death.
Vision: A heat resilient nation empowered to effectively address extreme heat and its impacts.
Heat.gov is a collaboration of NIHHIS Federal partners, which include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Administration for Community Living, Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Department of the Interior, General Services Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, US Census Bureau, US Forest Service, National Park Service, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, US Department of State, and United States Agency for International Development.
NIHHIS is an integrated information system supporting heat resilience.
Heat-related impacts are preventable with planning, education, and action. The National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) was created by NOAA and CDC as an interagency integrated information system to develop and provide actionable, science-based information to help protect people from heat.
How is NIHHIS building resilience to heat?
Co-Develop Products and Tools
Working through the U.S. Global Change Research Program, NIHHIS developed, prototyped, and operationalized a new heat and health tool that integrates environment and health information to monitor health outcomes from recent heat events. Visit the Heat and Health Tracker
Improve Observations and Predictions
Through a public-private partnership with CAPA Strategies, NIHHIS applies modern approaches to observing heat in urban areas such as community science and machine learning to reveal where heat is most harmful and to support innovative community solutions. See UHI Mapping.
Communicate and Build Capacity
The NIHHIS Interagency Heat Communications Working Group developed an infographic as part of a coordinated federal awareness campaign for the 2022 heat season. It was distributed via web and social media posts, emails, and other platforms to reach the public. Learn more
Enhance Solutions with Research
In FY21, the Extreme Heat Risk Initiative of NIHHIS piloted an applied research program to support the use of applied climate science to inform community decisions to mitigate heat risk. Five awardees received a total of $1.25M over two years to develop solutions in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Ft. Lauderdale Houston, Seattle, and across Vermont.
Support Planning and Response
NIHHIS worked with HHS to develop a first-of-its kind monthly heat outlook that combines climate and health information from NOAA and CDC, as well as advice and guidance from OSHA, EPA, and other agencies to support heat planning, preparedness, and response.
Understand Decision Context
Through multi-disciplinary regional pilots and workshops, as well as the NIHHIS National Meeting, NIHHIS builds understanding of how decisions are made to protect people from heat, and what information is useful at each timescale (from planning to responding) to informing decisions. See workshop reports from the Southwest, Northeast.
NIHHIS Work on Extreme Heat
Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaigns
To learn where action is needed to protect populations now and in the future, NIHHIS and partners launched new community-led field campaigns that map the hottest parts of cities. Campaigns engage local communities and create partnerships to better understand and address the threat of extreme heat. Goals of these mapping projects include:
- Establishing the spatial pattern of heat distribution by providing new air temperature and heat index data sets across the city to inform targeted climate adaptation and resilience initiatives.
- Raising awareness and understanding with the public about heat-related risks.
- Establishing a strong network of academic, municipal, and community partners to advance urban heat island-related research and policy.
2021 UHI campaign snapshot: over 1.2 million measurements taken by 799 volunteer community scientists working with 236 transects in 24 communities.
Interagency Heat Communications
The NIHHIS Interagency Heat Communications Working Group is a collaboration of partner agencies that work to promote public awareness of the health impacts of extreme heat. This includes creating common messages for heat illness prevention and actions, holding social media campaigns to prepare for extreme heat and to alert communities during heat events, and continually updating the NIHHIS Portal with interagency information, resources, & heat predictions.
Heat and Health Tracker
Developed with the CDC, the Heat & Health Tracker provides local heat and health information so communities can better prepare for and respond to extreme heat events. The map shows average maximum temperatures by county along with the rate of emergency department visits associated with heat-related illness per 100,000 emergency department visits at a regional level. The tool is updated weekly.
Protecting Outdoor Workers from Heat Illness
Outdoor workers, often in heat-trapping protective gear, face high risks of heat illness and death. Employers are responsible for worker safety and need to know when dangerous heat is predicted. To address this, NIHHIS developed an online story map. This tool provides National Weather Service forecasts, heat illness risk factors, and prevention strategies from the CDC and OSHA. It helps workers and supervisors understand heat hazards, promoting safety, improving productivity, and saving lives.
NIHHIS Regional Pilots
To understand multidisciplinary heat-health information needs and risk-reduction decisions, NIHHIS held two regional workshops (Rio Grande/Bravo 2016, Northeast 2018), documenting strategies via a decision calendar. NIHHIS Pilots aim to:
- Accelerate heat risk reduction across scales.
- Foster multi-sector engagement.
- Leverage existing programs.
- Develop and test new heat forecasts and communication.
- Identify user needs for research, data, forecasts, and communications.
Extreme Heat Risk Initiative Grants
In 2021, NOAA’s Climate Program Office , supported by NIHHIS, funded 5 grants to improve climate information and services to support the management and reduction of societal risks associated with urban climate and health issues by advancing application-oriented research and evidence-driven risk reduction practices. Learn more about the projects here.