Interventions
Interventions for Extreme Heat
We synthesize existing research on the effectiveness of various interventions and strategies that have the potential to reduce existing health burdens of moderate and extreme temperatures. Our primary focus is on studies that can make plausibly causal claims about the effect of an intervention or policy on the temperature-mortality relationship—that is, studies with a research design that can determine whether it was the intervention in question, rather than something else correlated with the intervention, that affected temperature-related health outcomes. A secondary focus is on studies that are able to make credible causal statements about interventions that result in favorable changes to an individuals' exposure to suboptimal temperatures, even if these changes are not observably linked to health outcomes in the same study. We view such changes as useful but not sufficient for understanding health impacts. Our focus is not on whether a technology or approach can function in principle (e.g., can AC cool a room) but whether programs or interventions that expand access to that technology reduce exposures or impacts (e.g., does a program that subsidizes AC units reduce indoor temperatures and health impacts). Regarding intervention efficacy, we judge evidence to be “strong" if there is repeated causal evidence from real-world applications of a given approach. We emphasize that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; many proposed and enacted interventions remain very under-evaluated. See About page for additional methodological details.
| Outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Worse | Mixed | Better |
| None | |||
| Weak | |||
| Strong | |||
Information provision
Programs or efforts that seek to reduce the impacts of extreme temperatures by generating better information on temperature extremes and disseminating this information to the public at large or to individuals particularly at risk.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Community interventions
Programs or regulations aimed at improving local-level resilience to extreme temperatures, including through a set of planned community actions triggered by extremes, or regulations that mandate protection of vulnerable communities during extremes.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Energy use, affordability, and reliability
Programs largely aimed at helping households manage, afford, and maintain access to residential energy during extreme hot and cold temperatures. Households typically must purchase energy, or otherwise acquire energy-producing inputs, in order to heat and cool their homes. The affordability of this energy depends on how much energy households need, its cost, and household incomes. Many types of programs seek to improve energy affordability and access for households, either by subsidizing efforts to improve energy efficiency, limiting the ability of energy providers to disconnect users, or by providing direct subsidy to energy bills or incomes.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Housing and urban design
The design and construction of individual buildings, and the use of specific technologies or behaviors to manage indoor temperatures in those buildings, is one common set of strategies for managing thermal comfort and temperature-related health risks. Another set of strategies relates to the design of cities themselves, including the orientation and arrangement of buildings, the density of urban vegetation, and the materials used for urban infrastructure.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Health services
Programs or policies to expand access to, quality of, or affordability of healthcare or health services. These programs are typically not targeted toward climate impacts, but have the potential to reduce climate-related health impacts.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Other policies and interventions
We summarize evidence on a range of additional policies or interventions that have the potential to reduce the health impacts of extreme temperatures, even as these are typically not explicitly designed to address extreme temperature exposures or impacts.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Interventions for Extreme Cold
We synthesize existing research on the effectiveness of various interventions and strategies that have the potential to reduce existing health burdens of moderate and extreme temperatures. Our primary focus is on studies that can make plausibly causal claims about the effect of an intervention or policy on the temperature-mortality relationship—that is, studies with a research design that can determine whether it was the intervention in question, rather than something else correlated with the intervention, that affected temperature-related health outcomes. A secondary focus is on studies that are able to make credible causal statements about interventions that result in favorable changes to an individuals' exposure to suboptimal temperatures, even if these changes are not observably linked to health outcomes in the same study. We view such changes as useful but not sufficient for understanding health impacts. Our focus is not on whether a technology or approach can function in principle (e.g., can AC cool a room) but whether programs or interventions that expand access to that technology reduce exposures or impacts (e.g., does a program that subsidizes AC units reduce indoor temperatures and health impacts). Regarding intervention efficacy, we judge evidence to be “strong" if there is repeated causal evidence from real-world applications of a given approach. We emphasize that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; many proposed and enacted interventions remain very under-evaluated. See About page for additional methodological details.
| Outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Worse | Mixed | Better |
| None | |||
| Weak | |||
| Strong | |||
Information provision
Programs or efforts that seek to reduce the impacts of extreme temperatures by generating better information on temperature extremes and disseminating this information to the public at large or to individuals particularly at risk.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Community interventions
Programs or regulations aimed at improving local-level resilience to extreme temperatures, including through a set of planned community actions triggered by extremes, or regulations that mandate protection of vulnerable communities during extremes.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Energy use, affordability, and reliability
Programs largely aimed at helping households manage, afford, and maintain access to residential energy during extreme hot and cold temperatures. Households typically must purchase energy, or otherwise acquire energy-producing inputs, in order to heat and cool their homes. The affordability of this energy depends on how much energy households need, its cost, and household incomes. Many types of programs seek to improve energy affordability and access for households, either by subsidizing efforts to improve energy efficiency, limiting the ability of energy providers to disconnect users, or by providing direct subsidy to energy bills or incomes.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Housing and urban design
The design and construction of individual buildings, and the use of specific technologies or behaviors to manage indoor temperatures in those buildings, is one common set of strategies for managing thermal comfort and temperature-related health risks. Another set of strategies relates to the design of cities themselves, including the orientation and arrangement of buildings, the density of urban vegetation, and the materials used for urban infrastructure.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Health services
Programs or policies to expand access to, quality of, or affordability of healthcare or health services. These programs are typically not targeted toward climate impacts, but have the potential to reduce climate-related health impacts.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Other policies and interventions
We summarize evidence on a range of additional policies or interventions that have the potential to reduce the health impacts of extreme temperatures, even as these are typically not explicitly designed to address extreme temperature exposures or impacts.
Heat | Cold | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | Changes in realized exposure | Health outcomes | |
Interventions for Wildfire Smoke
Coming Soon
| Outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Worse | Mixed | Better |
| None | |||
| Weak | |||
| Strong | |||