Heat waves are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity due to human-caused climate change. Human settlements like cities can be several degrees warmer than rural areas around them and some neighborhoods within cities can be even hotter due to the urban heat island effect. These heat risks exacerbate chronic health conditions with particularly acute impacts on poorer and more marginalized communities. This panel will help our audience see the connections between heat and population health while identifying disparities and effective interventions from the perspective of local, on-the-ground practitioners as well as regionally-focused scientists and clinicians.

The panel will address the following questions:

• How does heat impact human health on the individual, physiological level?

• Who is susceptible? In terms of health conditions, and socioeconomic status, health disparities?

• How can we intervene? From immediate to long term solutions. From local, grassroots efforts to systemic preparedness.

• How can we develop approaches to predict the likelihood and impacts of extreme heat events, so we can intervene before it is too late?

• How can we monitor and evaluate the success of interventions to guide effective solutions?