King County and local partners recently announced a new countywide strategy to prepare for and respond to the impacts of extreme heat.

Development of the Extreme Heat Mitigation Strategy began two years ago following the unprecedented heat wave in 2021 that killed over 30 people in King County, marking the deadliest climate-related disaster in the region’s history.

The strategy includes 20 immediate and long-term actions that range from increasing urban tree canopy and expanding access to parks and green space, to creating community cooling locations, making schools more resilient to heat, updating building codes and more.

“It has been just three years since the Pacific Northwest experienced the deadly Heat Dome, a disaster made 150 times more likely because of climate change,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. Read more.