The City of Toledo participated in the NOAA-funded urban heat mapping campaign in 2023. This campaign was a collaborative community engagement partnership between the University of Toledo climate researchers, local governmental climate adaptation practitioners, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and residents. This presentation will discuss how the climate adaptation practitioners are threading urban heat campaign across departments and the need to amplify the effect of urban heat islands as part of climate change adaptation awareness. It is well documented that the burden of excess in a community is not equally shared. Low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods are more vulnerable to the impacts of urban heat. Also well-established is the impact of increasing urban tree canopy on reducing the impacts of urban heat. To address heat island effects, the city aims to increase urban tree canopy to cool city neighborhoods using nature-based solutions. In 2023, the City of Toledo was awarded $6,098,294 in USDA Forest Service grants that will increase urban tree canopy by planting 10,000 trees in five years. This grant will also include a community awareness and engagement component of the many benefits of urban trees including reducing urban heat effects, reducing flooding, increasing water infiltration, reducing erosion, improving water quality and human health. While there are community awareness programs on the impacts of flooding on coastal communities and ecosystems, the impact of excess heat awareness on public health and as a surface runoff pollutant is sparse. An increase in temperature in aquatic ecosystems due to warm stormwater runoff can be particularly stressful and even fatal to aquatic life.
