US cities expand cooling centers but struggle to get people inside

Residents rest inside a cooling center during a heatwave in Palm Springs, California, on 14 July 2023. Photograph: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Responding to an uptick in extreme heat waves this summer, US cities have increased their efforts to establish cooling centers to keep people safe but continue to encounter a problem: actually getting people to enter the public air-conditioned spaces.

Lower-income people, who often do not have – or cannot afford to operate – air conditioning, face a greater risk of heat-related illness or deaths, which means public agencies in the US concentrate their efforts on trying to reach them.