Heat perception and adaptation among college students in the southeastern United States

Keywords: extreme heat, students, adaptation, perception
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 17

Abstract

Heat waves in the southeastern United States are becoming more frequent and intense with a changing climate. Likewise, the warm season is becoming hotter and minimum nighttime temperatures are increasing. A person’s perception of heat risk and their access to adaptive methods can affect their heat exposure. Whether a person understands and receives heat hazard communication products, such as a heat advisory, can affect their ability to prepare for and reduce their exposure during a heat wave. Increasing risk perception and reducing heat exposure decreases the likelihood of physical and mental heat-related illnesses. College campuses are unique, often self-contained, environments where many in the community live on or spend a large portion of their time on site. Heat is an especially pertinent issue on college campuses as students, faculty, and staff need to travel outdoors from building to building or other locations, regardless of the outdoor conditions. To better understand how students on college campuses interact with heat, we distributed a mixed-methods survey at Middle Tennessee State University (n=142), an urban campus, and Appalachian State University (n=198), a rural campus. This survey evaluates undergraduate and graduate students’ heat risk perception, protective behaviors used on campus and in general, physical and mental heat-health effects experienced, and how warm weather and heat waves affect their perceived performance in the classroom. Results will provide new recommendations for serving students during warm temperatures and heat events through in-classroom interventions, on-campus adaptive and mitigating resources, and increasing student awareness of heat risk.