2017 – Heat Risks due to Climate Change in Chelsea – City of Chelsea, MA

Assessing Heat Risks to Prepare Chelsea, Massachusetts
for a Changing Climate

Chelsea, Massachusetts is facing problems from extreme heat, because a large portion of its residents are vulnerable to the high temperatures in summer. The goal of this project was to identify the populations and geographic areas that would be particularly impacted by increasing temperatures and recommend the best practices that we believed the City should further pursue to mitigate negative heat impacts on the vulnerable populations. To achieve this, we researched what other cities around the United States have done to mitigate extreme heat effects and protect their vulnerable populations. We also interviewed several city officials to find out what factors affect Chelsea residents’ vulnerability to heat and receive recommendations on how the city can help them. We have produced recommendations for strategies to be implemented in Chelsea, which was delivered to our sponsor, the Department of Planning and Development, ℅ John DePriest, Director.

Students: Ermina Damlamayan, Conrad Mera, Michael Munroe, Elizabeth Walkes

Sponsor: City of Chelsea Department of Planning and Development

Project Advisors: Seth Tuler, Jennifer deWinter