An aerial view of a housing development.

Charleston Heat-Health Research Project

The Charleston Heat-Health Research Project (CHHRP) was created by a group of health professionals, climate scientists, city planners, students and researchers to learn more about heat impacts in the community.

Learn About the Project

What Are We Doing?

We want to learn about heat in the City of Charleston and measure the heat through different environments, such as under a tree, on a sidewalk, or in a neighborhood.

Why is it Important?

Heat has a serious impact on health and well-being for everyone, particularly people with other health impacts, or who work outdoors, are elderly, or are poor. The heat waves are more frequent and longer.

A chart showing that predicted climate data matches observed data, and that the temperature will trend sharply upward in the future.

Effects of Heat

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Charleston is hot and humid like many other places in the south. Increased heat exposure impacts health.

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Annually, heat kills more people than floods, lightning, tornadoes or winter cold.

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In the past 20 years, as the planet heats up and the U.S. population gets older, there has been a 54% increase in heat-related deaths in people over 65.

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People with heart or breathing problems and people with diabetes are more vulnerable to heat.

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Heat also leads to extreme rainfall, which leads to more flooding. Flooding may cause power outages (no air conditioning). Many flood adaptation measures can also help with heat.

Beat the Heat!

Find the public places in your area with air conditioning where you can go to cool off.

Cooling Facilities Map

A map of the Charleston peninsula showing hot spots.

What Has Been Done?

CHHRP scientists, students, and volunteer community members recorded hot temperature in the community, identify building and landscape materials that make the heat feel worse.

Outdoor temperatures will be recorded by Kestral Wet-Bulb-Globe Temperature devices and FLIR Infrared devices. Some of these will be on tripods, others will be hand held and connected to cellphones. These can be aimed at specific surfaces to determine the heat in that location.

An infrared display from the FLIR device shows the temperature of a picnic table and the surrounding area.

The FLIR device is a small metal square connected to a regular smartphone.

How Can You Beat The Heat?

Watch for signs of heat illnesses when you are outside. To learn more about heat illnesses and what to do if you experience these symptoms, check out these fans to keep you cool!

Hand Fan - Side 1

Hand Fan - Side 2

Informational Rack Card