USD Magazine Fall 2026

Feeling the Heat HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE ONE OF THE DEADLIEST CLIMATE HAZARDS, AFFECTING EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON AGE, INCOME, HOUSING AND ACCESS TO SHADE. That’s why extreme heat is at the heart of one of the Climate Collaborative’s most ambitious and innovative efforts yet. This summer, it launched the Heat Risk Explorer, a new interactive mapping tool that layers temperature, tree canopy, demographic and health data to identify neighborhoods where residents may face the greatest heat-related risks. The project is funded by Solutions for Heat Adaptation and Equity in San Diego (SHADE SD), a regional initiative funded by the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. The collaborative is working with the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista and La Mesa, as well as researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, so each city can develop its own heat action plan while simultaneously creating tools like the Heat Risk Explorer. The tool brings together 75 public data sets to identify extreme heat risks at a neighborhood level, which current census and property tract information does not. “Climate action is a ‘yes, and’ problem,” said Berry, “and the Heat Risk Explorer is another tool that empowers larger and smaller cities in our region to identify practical solutions that fit their unique needs.” For Julia Chase, chief resilience officer for the City of San Diego, the Climate Collaborative’s value goes beyond creation of data platforms. It’s the partnership behind it. Chase first became involved with the collaborative in 2018 while leading the city’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment. Today, she participates in several of its regional initiatives, including SHADE SD. “The collaborative creates the space to have important conversations, to share best practices, to share what has worked and hasn’t worked — not only within the public sector but also between the private sector and different types of agencies,” said Chase. “They’re an incredible resource and really help expand and support staff capacity. I know my job is easier to do more effectively because of the collaborative,” she said. “They’re doing things we don’t need to do individually, like tracking funding opportunities and proposed legislation and sharing it across the region.” Because every participating city is contributing to — and benefiting from — the same regional resources, communities are able to move farther, faster, she said. “We all have access to the same information. I think that will really help align planning efforts going forward.”

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83

48

64

Kearny Mesa

City Heights

North Park

Linda Vista

32

Bankers Hill

Downtown San Diego 68

SCAN THE QR CODE AND TRY THE HEAT RISK EXPLORER TOOL This illustration shows how San Diego neighborhoods range in the 0–100 heat risk index using the variables of daytime heat exposure, heat-day hospitalization, overall pollution burden, overall social vulnerability, impervious surfaces, tree canopies and park access.

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