According to a statistic given during the Women’s Fund presentation, Climate Risks: Extreme Heat and Wellbeing in Miami-Dade County, our community undergoes roughly 25 days per year of "hazardous heat", days when the heat index is over 105°F. Scientists believe extreme heat causes more American fatalities than any other weather-related event. These numbers are not just numbers; they are lives disrupted, a disease exacerbated, and community vulnerability escalated. 

The Unequal Heat

Miami is unequal in many ways. The neighborhoods with older houses, fewer trees, and fewer nearby green spaces are much hotter compared to their wealthier neighbors. Many of them are neighborhoods that were redlined by a racist practice that kept people of color out of blocks based on ethnicity and race. Decades later, those neighborhoods are already living with the brunt of not just economic inequality, but inequality in higher temperatures and health risks. 

This taught me that climate change is not a science issue or emissions issue, but rather a justice issue; a matter of who gets to afford to live on the cooler, safer block, and who doesn't. The fight around climate change is a fight for justice, a fight for equity, and a fight for public health.

When Heat Becomes a Health Crisis

The effects of extreme heat on our bodies are alarming. It significantly increases the development of chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, causes more hospitalizations, and, in some cases, leads to death. Outdoor occupations, such as construction workers or farm workers, for example, cannot refuse exposure or limit their exposure. According to statistics in Miami-Dade County, outdoor workers die from hyperthermia 35 times more than other people.

The more I learned about all of this, the more I realized how interconnected our health is, and then how interconnected our environment is. I also recognized that the 17 United Nations SDGs were interconnected in various ways. For example, SDG 13: Climate Action is related to protecting human wellness through SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

Women on the Frontlines of the Heat Crisis

However, the most astonishing finding of the briefing was related to maternal health in extreme heat. Research out of the JAMA Network found exposure to heatwaves increases the risk of major pregnancy complications in pregnant women by as much as 27%, and by nearly 28% in third-trimester mothers. In Miami-Dade County, black mothers are almost five times as likely as white mothers to die from pregnancy-related complications. Climate change is exacerbating these inequities.

These statistics made me think of climate change differently—not just as an environmental concern, but as a human rights concern. Organizations dedicated to the work of The Women's Fund Miami-Dade give me hope for women’s health and increasing resilience within our communities, by way of data and advocacy. But the work is heavy, and we are still in the awareness stage. 

A Call for Climate Empathy

As students and as future leaders, we must make climate communication a reality. It is not just talking about sustainability, but taking that next step to connect to empathy-to real people, real health, and in real neighborhoods. Planting trees, supporting advocacy groups, and raising awareness about heat risk are all small things, but they all add up to a more just future altogether. Climate change is here, and it is changing our city and our lives. But where there is knowledge, there is action potential. Every thought, every column, and every action is part of a bigger movement to justice and health. In the end, I believe I have realized that the climate crisis is also a crisis of care. To care for the earth is to care about each other, for our neighbors, for our mothers, for workers, and for our communities as a whole. And perhaps through that empathy, we will find the courage to create a cooler, healthier Miami for all.