Governor Proclaims North Carolina Heat Awareness Week 2024

NORTH CAROLINA HEAT AWARENESS WEEK

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, heat is known to significantly impact health through heat-related illness or death and worsening of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cerebrovascular disease; and

WHEREAS, North Carolina communities are experiencing a warming trend and will continue to experience higher heat index values as the climate changes; and

WHEREAS, North Carolina communities, both urban and rural, now have more nights with temperatures that do not go below 70 degrees, and the risk of heat-related illness and death increases when temperatures stay high overnight; and

WHEREAS, heat-related illnesses can affect anyone, regardless of age or physical condition; they disproportionately affect infants and children, pregnant women, older adults, outdoor workers, athletes, low-income individuals who are more likely to live in locations without easy access to air conditioning, and people with underlying health conditions; and

WHEREAS, heat-related illnesses are preventable, and monitoring and minimizing the health risks associated with heat is a shared responsibility; and

WHEREAS, federal, state, and local agencies have collaborated with scientists, health experts, and community leaders to develop resources, including the Heat Action Plan Toolkit, the Heat Health Alert System, the Heat-Related Illness Surveillance System, the North Carolina Resilience Exchange, and the North Carolina Resilient Communities Planning Guide, to help local governments and community partners build local resilience to the health impacts of extreme heat and other climate hazards; and

WHEREAS, the Heat Action Plan Toolkit provides resources for communities to help prevent and manage heat-related health impacts to people, with particular focus on extreme heat events experienced during May to September; and

WHEREAS, the Heat Health Alert System provides alerts and health education to North Carolina residents when the heat index in their region is forecast to reach levels considered to be dangerous to health during May to September; and

WHEREAS, the Heat-Related Illness Surveillance System publishes weekly reports on heat-related illness emergency department visits in North Carolina during May to September;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim May 26 – June 1, 2024, as “NORTH CAROLINA HEAT AWARENESS WEEK” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

________________________________________

Roy Cooper

Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twentieth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.