This summer was a scorcher. Stanford saw temperatures of over 97°F last month, with the University issuing a heat advisory on Sept. 23.

The creation of the Cool Cities Coalition was inspired by rising mercury as a result of climate change, in order to conduct research, provide resources and spread awareness about the impacts of extreme heat. The group, led by Julia Zeitlin ’28 and Kristy Mualim PhD ’27, primarily serves members of local communities in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

According to Mualim, cities in the Peninsula are victims of the Urban Heat Island Effect: a phenomenon where cities experience higher temperatures than their rural counterparts due to the heat absorbing powers of materials such as concrete. Last year, the Coalition conducted a heat mapping project to discover the locations most vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat. 

“The data can show us where local leaders should be implementing localized cooling solutions,” said Zeitlin. The team has also been distributing emergency preparedness kits (“extreme heat kits”) to bridge this gap.

This summer, the Coalition hosted the Extreme Heat Summit at Cooley Landing Learning Center in East Palo Alto, with local experts and city officials in attendance. “We had this really interesting mix of speakers, and we were able to bring the community together to talk about this threat,” said Zeitlin.

Apart from presenting their findings and raising awareness, the event also provided the opportunity for Zeitlin, Mualim and their collaborators to meet with Martha Barragan, the mayor of East Palo Alto. From their conversation, the team learned that “there is real interest and need in distributing some of these heat kits to East Palo Alto residents,” said Zeitlin. The Coalition hopes to continue building on the partnership, she said.

A challenge has been meeting the needs of the community. “A lot of people were skeptical, like, ‘Oh, is this going to work?’” said Doyoon Kim, a high schooler from Palo Alto. Critics of the coalition believe climate change is not a significant issue, and are more concerned that heat resilience measures could divert funding from more important programs, Kim said. 

But Kim takes the feedback as constructive criticism. The team has been able to “really [see] what these individuals really need and want from our solutions,” she said. “Finding ways to [implement] those criticisms is like one of the biggest challenges we currently have.”

Another problem is with funding. “A lot of nonprofits are stretched thin and there’s a lack of funding opportunities,” said Zeitlin: the Coalition’s heat mapping initiative participated in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) UHI Mapping Campaign through a grant provided by the local Schmidt Family Foundation. NOAA and the National Weather Service (NWS) are facing dramatic budget cuts and the ability to collect data may be under threat. Looking forward, the team’s next steps include supporting other nonprofits that are combating climate change. 

After all, support from other nonprofits in the climate change space are what makes their advocacy possible. “Sometimes it can feel like a lot of these issues are really big, and so, what can you actually do as an individual?” she said. 

“Connecting with other organizations that have been doing this work … [has] been the most valuable,” Mualim concluded.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the grant was made possible through the local Schmidt Family Foundation. The Daily regrets this error.

Correction: This article has been updated to remove that the grant may be uncertain for this year. The Daily regrets this error.