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Intense heat's impact on America's most at-risk populations

Research conducted by Jaime Madrigano, our site's epidemiologist, is funded by federal sources. The study focuses on determining neighborhood features and patterns of behavior that potentially heighten an individual's susceptibility to heat.

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Research conducted by epidemiologist Jaime Madrigano, funded by our website, seeks to pinpoint...
Research conducted by epidemiologist Jaime Madrigano, funded by our website, seeks to pinpoint local factors and human behaviors that raise susceptibility to excessive heat.

Intense heat's impact on America's most at-risk populations

Sizzling Summer Struggles: The Plight of Low-Income New Orleanians under the Heatwave

Last summer, the residents of New Orleans sweated through a series of scorching heat waves, with day after day of temperatures soaring past the hundred-degree mark. As Julia Kumari Drapkin, founder and CEO of climate data platform ISeeChange, explains, the city's heat problem is far from a seasonal issue.

Solidly constructed homes have given way to storm-battered ones, leaving many low- to moderate-income homeowners struggling to keep their properties in good shape amidst the constant financial strain and stress. One in three Southern residents can't afford their utility bills[1]. As a result, many New Orleanians logging their experiences on ISeeChange last summer grappled with towering energy bills and sweltering indoor temperatures reaching as high as 89 degrees Fahrenheit, even with the air conditioner humming non-stop. Some players reported seeing their bills double or even triple during the sultry summer months.

In the summer of 2023, epidemiologist Jaime Madrigano of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health teamed up with ISeeChange on a five-year research project funded by the National Institutes of Health. This collaborative effort aimed to gauge the health implications of heat in New Orleans, pinpointing factors that heighten vulnerability to the sweltering heat, specifically for those who struggle to adequately cool their homes.

The home environment itself can prove to be a considerable risk factor[4], states Madrigano, an associate professor in Environmental Health and Engineering who specializes in investigating environmental and climate-related stressors with an eye towards crafting equitable health policies. "We see people succumbing to the heat right in their own homes. If you're financially stretched or living on a fixed income, you're that much more susceptible to these weather- and climate-related difficulties."

Over the course of two weeks in 2023, Madrigano and her research crew installed temperature and humidity sensors in the bedrooms of 70 mostly Black residents of the Upper Ninth Ward. When the summer of 2024 rolled around, they gathered data from residents residing in Hollygrove and Hollygrove-Dixon. Additional information from the Louisiana Department of Health will aid in painting a clearer picture of the communities hit hardest by heat-related hospitalizations, and the chief factors driving those hospitalizations.

Preliminary analysis of the Upper Ninth Ward data revealed that average indoor temperatures hovered around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but reached as high as 90 degrees in a quarter of the homes surveyed. The primary culprit was either insufficient air conditioning capability or thrifty residents avoid running the units enough to maintain a safe living environment out of concern for escalating energy bills. The granular data amassed over the two-week period will bolster climate and satellite data.

The repercussions of extreme heat extend far beyond financial strife and physical discomfort. Heat waves represent the deadliest weather event on record[4], and are linked to mental health issues, heat strokes, dehydration, and a plethora of cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders. Societal consequences encompass a surge in violence, declines in labor productivity, and subpar academic performance.

Extreme heat disproportionately impacts certain racial and income groups[2]. People of color and those living in poverty find themselves disproportionately exposed to urban heat islands, such as much of the Upper Ninth Ward's barren landscape. There, sweltering temperatures can rise a staggering 8 degrees Fahrenheit above greener, less developed areas due to the presence of earthbound surfaces, pollution, traffic, and limited greenery[3].

In January 2024, the efforts of ISeeChange and fellow advocates led to the introduction of the Healthy Homes ordinance by the city. This legislation demands that rental property owners provide cooling systems capable of maintaining a maximum bedroom temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, three feet above the floor. Madrigano hopes the findings from her study will offer valuable insights to the policymakers working to update or introduce adaptive measures to shield the city's residents during heatwaves.

"Individuals who can't afford to adequately cool their homes are left with limited options to shield themselves from lethal temperatures," Madrigano warns. "That's why it's crucial to ensure people can brace themselves in the safety of their homes during a heatwave. The consequences can be a matter of life and death."

Originally published in Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health magazine.

Classified under Health and Science+Technology

Tagged with nih funding, climate change, urban heat islands.

[1] New Orleans Residents Struggling to Keep Cool, According to Data Collected by ISeeChange. (2023, May 15). Retrieved January 25, 2025, from https://iseechange.org/new-orleans-residents-struggling-to-keep-cool-according-to-data-collected-by-iseechange/

[2] Heat Vulnerability Index shows racial and income disparities. (2021, September 15). Retrieved January 25, 2025, from https://news.jhu.edu/2021/09/15/heat-vulnerability-index-shows-racial-and-income-disparities

[3] Extreme heat reveals hothouse inequality. (2021). Retrieved January 25, 2025, from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02311-3

[4] Health effects of extreme temperatures. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2025, from https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/impacts/extreme-temperatures.htm

[5] City of New Orleans Green Infrastructure Plan. (2019). Retrieved January 25, 2025, from https://www.nola.gov/green-infrastructure/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2018/08/GI-Plan-Final-August-2019.pdf

  1. The heat problem in New Orleans is not just a seasonal issue, as explained by Julia Kumari Drapkin, the founder and CEO of climate data platform ISeeChange.
  2. The home environment can be a significant risk factor for those struggling to adequately cool their homes, according to Jaime Madrigano, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  3. Epidemiologist Jaime Madrigano and her research team installed temperature and humidity sensors in the bedrooms of 70 mostly Black residents in the Upper Ninth Ward to study the health implications of heat in New Orleans.
  4. Data amassed from the study revealed that average indoor temperatures hovered around 80 degrees Fahrenheit but reached as high as 90 degrees in a quarter of the homes surveyed.
  5. The repercussions of extreme heat extend far beyond financial strife and physical discomfort, and include mental health issues, heat strokes, dehydration, cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders, a surge in violence, declines in labor productivity, and subpar academic performance.
  6. Extreme heat disproportionately impacts certain racial and income groups, with people of color and those living in poverty being disproportionately exposed to urban heat islands.
  7. In January 2024, the efforts of ISeeChange and fellow advocates led to the introduction of the Healthy Homes ordinance by the city, requiring rental property owners to provide cooling systems capable of maintaining a maximum bedroom temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit, three feet above the floor.

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