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Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy
Concern about higher summer temperatures and the potential for more extreme heat events in King County has grown as the impacts of climate change become more evident. This concern was underscored by the June 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Dome, an event that led to 34 heat-related deaths in King County.
The King County Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy was co-developed in collaboration with state and local governments, service providers, community-based organizations, frontline communities, and other partners to provide strategic direction for local and countywide work on heat mitigation.
King County developing its first Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy from King County DNRP on Vimeo
Comprehensive action on heat
The Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy includes 20 actions. The actions take a comprehensive approach to equitably preparing people and places in King County for the impacts of hotter summers and more extreme heat events. Actions are organized into 6 categories.
Category 1: Help people stay cool and safe indoors
- In-home heat safety
- Energy efficiency and utility bill assistance
- Heat pump installations
- Enhanced cooling centers
- Community-led cooling spaces
Category 2: Help people stay cool and safe outdoors
- Drowning prevention
- Cool kits for unhoused people
- Occupational heat safety
Category 3: Cool our neighborhoods
- Private property tree care
- Maximize tree survival
- King County tree code toolkit
- Track equitable canopy cover
- Open space access
Category 4: Design for heat
- Cool schools
- Building and development codes
- Heat smart parks and playgrounds
Category 5: Increase heat safety awareness
- Multilingual communications
- Community heat preparedness trainings
Category 6: Support heat action
- Sustainable partnerships for implementation
- Support community solutions
Reducing heat inequities
While heat affects everyone in King County, we are not affected equally.
Many of the hottest areas of the county are the same areas that are already overburdened with environmental pollution, health, and income disparities. The strategy emphasizes the importance of prioritizing action implementation in identified heat islands, low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and other communities disproportionately affected by extreme heat.
Read about the 2021 heat mapping project and see how data can be applied to reduce heat impacts