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California has an extreme heat warning system and ranking

California has an extreme heat warning system and ranking

SACRAMENTO CA, Calif. California is preparing for another hot summer. State legislators propose a law to alert residents to extreme heat and give them a ranking about how severe they are.

AB 2238 would provide heat wave warnings in advance, similar to the ones for hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires.


What You Need to Know

  • AB 2238 would provide heat wave warnings in advance, similar to the ones for hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires.
  • Climate change is likely to lead to extreme heat in California. 
  • Extreme heat increases the chance of death for seniors, children, and those with chronic medical conditions.
  • California, if AB 2238 is passed, would be the first state to have an extreme heat warning system and ranking.

Spectrum News: Ricardo Lara, California Insurance Commissioner, said that ranking heat waves and better warnings will keep people safer.

Introduced in February, AB2238 received a support letter from a coalition California doctors this week. It highlighted the health consequences of extreme heat.

According to the letter, total mortality rises 8% when it gets hot in Los Angeles, with consecutive days of intense sun causing up to 30% more deaths. Seniors, children, and people with chronic medical conditions, such as those with diabetes, are at greatest risk. Outdoor workers, Blacks, Latinos, and low-income residents are also at highest risk.

We can do more to protect everyone, especially those most vulnerable from heat. The letter was signed by doctors from Stanford University and the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine. It has been proven that ranking and naming other natural catastrophes has helped increase public awareness as well as improve coordinated responses.

People and businesses have had the opportunity to escape danger by being notified of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires through advance warning systems.

AB 2238 cites Californias red-flag wildfire warnings and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations tropic storm naming system, as valuable templates for a system of extreme heat ranking.

Although the exact function of the extreme heat ranking system and warning system has yet to be determined, Luz Rivas, a California Assemblymember and co-author of AB 2238, suggested that it could be a number system similar to hurricanes. Higher numbers would indicate more severe conditions, while red would indicate the most dangerous.

Rivas explained to Spectrum News that the response these numbers or colors could prompt could vary depending on how many people respond. It could be telling people not to go outside or causing local governments to declare a State of Emergency.

AB 2238 was created from Laras California Climate Insurance Working Group. It was established by him in 2019, shortly after he took office. The group, which included insurance experts and environmentalists combined, found that wildfires and flooding were major climate threats for the state and recommended ways to reduce them.

Lara, who presented the idea to Assemblymember Rivas last November at United Nations Climate Change Conference, was one of the group’s proposals. It involved ranking heat waves to provide levels and specific warnings to protect our most vulnerable communities.

AB 2238 is moving through the legislature. According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, temperatures are above normal in large parts of the state up until July. California already has seen some of its most extreme temperatures in recent history. Parts of LA County reached a record-breaking temperature of 121 degrees in 2020. Coachella Valley recorded a record-breaking high of 123 degrees in 2021.

The Climate Vulnerability Assessment by the LA County Sustainability Office was released last month. It found that extreme heat events are likely to increase tenfold, from approximately once every two years to twice per year by 2050. Extreme heat, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, is summer temperatures that are higher than average.  

California law requires that the state’s Environmental Protection Agency identify urban heat islands and determine their severity so that cities can set goals to reduce the temperature. The state also requires the Insurance commissioner to examine ways to reduce the climate change risk.

AB2238 would require California EPA’s establishment of a statewide system to rank extreme heat events by January 1, 2024. It also requires that the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Responsibility Program submit a study of the cost of past extreme heat episodes to determine the costs to the program. This program is charged with coordinating local adaptation efforts to mitigate the effects of a warming planet.

The agency would then need a plan to communicate extreme temperatures to the public with Office of Emergency Services, other relevant agencies and organizations, and create guidelines for local governments to prepare for extreme heat events.

AB 2076 is a companion bill that would create a Chief Heat Officer, Extreme Heat and Community Recovery Program and a Chief Heat Officer for the state to coordinate preparedness, response, and support more localized plans. Rivas stated that she is currently in conversation with the Natural Resources Agency of the state to determine how the bills will work together.

AB 2238 directs the Department of Insurance of the state to examine government and academic data about maximum and minimum temperatures, and the durations of severe heat events. It will also examine the historical health effects of heat.

Lara stated that heat waves can have an impact on insurance, especially health insurance when people are sick and business insurance when there is blackouts.

His office already knows that extreme heat waves will be more difficult for those without insurance or underinsured.

Laras office would be able to better understand the economic effects of extreme heat. This includes its effects on emergency rooms visits, construction, energy costs, and liability insurance.

Lara stated that these things are interconnected.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists Too Hot To Work Report published last year, the average outdoor worker could lose six days of work due to extreme heat by 2036. This is a loss of $740 per annum. This could have implications for multiple industries, such as insurance and health care.


About 3.8million people, or 21%, of California’s total workforce, work outdoors. The study found that the most vulnerable to extreme heat are construction workers, police officers and firefighters, as well as those who work in installation maintenance and repair jobs. It was particularly severe in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties.

The report found that Riverside County outdoor workers could lose 25 workdays per annum due to extreme heat by 2065. They also risk losing 39 workdays by the end of the 21st century, as opposed to 9 days historically. Workers in Imperial County are at risk of losing 48 workdays by midcentury and 65 during the latter half of the century, as compared to 18 days previously.

Many of the California legislators who coauthored AB2238 represent areas most affected. These include Rivas, who represents LA, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia who represents the Coachella Valley, and Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula who represents the Central Valley.

Since its introduction earlier this season, AB2238 has passed through two committees. The legislation is currently being considered by the State Assembly Appropriations Committee. After that, it will be voted on by the full Assembly before going to the Senate. California would become the first state in the nation to rate extreme heat.

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