Miami Designates ‘Heat Season’ to Warn About Rising Temperatures

(Bloomberg) -- Miami-Dade County is drawing awareness to the dangers of rising temperatures by declaring an annual “heat season” that will run from May 1 through Oct. 31 each year.

The county, where residents face an average of 154 days with a heat index of at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.22 degrees Celsius), plans to give the campaign the same level of importance that it places on hurricane preparedness, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Monday at the inaugural Forum on Global Resilience hosted by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and the Atlantic Council.

“This is a first for Miami-Dade. As far as I know, a first for the world,” Levine Cava said, referring to the season designation. “Heat is the number one weather-related killer. It's a silent killer. It's so important that we're moving forward with all of this information to the public.”

Besides public awareness campaigns and community outreach, the season could also see heat waves categorized and named like hurricanes and winter storms. The initiative, which has been spearheaded by the Arsht-Rock Resilience Center, aims to improve public awareness of the dangers heat waves can pose.

“We're known internationally for our vulnerability to sea level rise and hurricanes, and we've been fortifying infrastructure, updating building codes and strengthening our resilience in these two areas for decades,” Levine Cava said. “But up until recently, extreme heat wasn't on our radar. This is all to say we have a growing heat problem, and it's time to find solutions.”