Colliding Crises

The Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed the intersection of the housing crisis and extreme heat, finding that residents of affordable housing—particularly people of color, older adults, and people with disabilities—face significant risks. Analysis of 2024 heat alerts shows that the highest shares of exposed affordable housing are in the Northeast and Southeast, while Texas, California, and New York have the highest total number of exposed homes. The report advocates for increased investment in climate-resilient affordable housing and the expansion of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to improve cooling and building efficiency.

• People living in affordable housing experienced heat alerts ranging from several days to several weeks per year, with households headed by people of color facing disproportionately high risks.
• Geographically, the largest proportions of affordable housing exposed to heat alerts are located in the Northeast and Southeast regions, although Texas, California, and New York lead in the absolute number of exposed homes.
• The analysis conservatively estimates that 9.231 million people live in the affordable housing types studied, which include public housing, project-based subsidized housing, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units, and manufactured housing.
• To mitigate these risks, the Union of Concerned Scientists recommends increasing investments in climate-resilient affordable housing and expanding the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to provide energy-efficient cooling and building upgrades.

APA

Declet-Barreto, J., Fencl, A., Cleetus, R., Middleton, Z., & Kaplan, A. (2025). Colliding Crises. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Colliding_Crises_Technical_Appendix.pdf

Chicago

Declet-Barreto, Juan, Amanda Fencl, Rachel Cleetus, Zoe Middleton, and Avery Kaplan. Colliding Crises. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2025. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Colliding_Crises_Technical_Appendix.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Declet-Barreto |first1=Juan |last2=Fencl |first2=Amanda |last3=Cleetus |first3=Rachel |last4=Middleton |first4=Zoe |last5=Kaplan |first5=Avery |title=Colliding Crises |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2025 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Colliding_Crises_Technical_Appendix.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{decletbarreto2025colliding, author = {Declet-Barreto, Juan and Fencl, Amanda and Cleetus, Rachel and Middleton, Zoe and Kaplan, Avery}, title = {{Colliding Crises}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/Colliding_Crises_Technical_Appendix.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }