More educational outreach on extreme heat needed in the Midwest and Southwest

Analysis of FEMA heat data and Yale Climate Opinion Maps reveals a positive correlation (r = 0.12) between extreme heat exposure and worry about global warming in the U.S. However, a specific group of 217 counties—primarily in the Midwest and South—exhibit high exposure but lower-than-average worry. These counties, representing 6.4 million people, are characterized by higher proportions of white residents, rural populations, and 2020 Republican voters compared to the national average. The authors argue that these gaps in risk perception increase vulnerability to heat-related illness and death, necessitating tailored educational outreach and policy responses.

• There is a positive population-weighted correlation (r = 0.12) between past exposure to extreme heat and worry about global warming across 2,293 U.S. counties, indicating that residents in areas with more extreme heat days generally report higher levels of worry.
• A critical group of 217 counties, representing approximately 6.4 million people (2.6% of the U.S. population), are characterized by high exposure to extreme heat but lower-than-average worry about global warming. These counties are located almost exclusively in the Midwest and the South.
• Residents in the 'Higher Exposure, Lower Worry' counties are more likely to be white, live in rural areas, and have voted Republican in the 2020 presidential election compared to the general U.S. population. Their median household income is approximately $57,000, which is about 9% below the U.S. median of $62,000, though SNAP benefit receipt (11%) is similar to the national average (12%).
• Regional variations exist in the relationship between heat and worry: counties in the West tend to have both high exposure and high worry, while many in the Northeast show high worry despite lower historical heat exposure.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2022). More educational outreach on extreme heat needed in the Midwest and Southwest. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/more-educational-outreach-on-extreme-heat-needed-in-the-midwest-and-southwest/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. More educational outreach on extreme heat needed in the Midwest and Southwest. 2022. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/more-educational-outreach-on-extreme-heat-needed-in-the-midwest-and-southwest/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=More educational outreach on extreme heat needed in the Midwest and Southwest |date=16 August 2022 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/more-educational-outreach-on-extreme-heat-needed-in-the-midwest-and-southwest/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2022more, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{More educational outreach on extreme heat needed in the Midwest and Southwest}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/more-educational-outreach-on-extreme-heat-needed-in-the-midwest-and-southwest/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }