The average yearly temperature in the city of Riverside is expected to increase by three degrees over the next 25 years. That’s according to Francesca Hopkins, a researcher with the University of California, Riverside, who spoke at last week’s Extreme Heat Summit.
“While things might look gloomy on the federal level at the moment, cities are really an important lever for climate change,” Hopkins said at the event. “We can address this by both reducing our emissions today and, hopefully, by bringing down the amount of greenhouse gases to affect the temperature by the end of the century.”
According to Hopkins, 10 of the hottest years in the greater Los Angeles region, which includes the city of Riverside, have all been recorded in the past 12 years. These ever-increasing temperatures spurred Riverside Assistant City Manager Rafael Guzman into action.
“I was surprised that we haven’t had an extreme heat convening in the Inland Empire ever,” Guzman said. “Awareness and knowledge can make a big difference in saving lives.”
Guzman said city leaders began looking to come up with a plan to address the impact of extreme heat, which is defined as two or more days with temperatures above 90 degrees, since last July. It was during these initial discussions where Guzman said he and other city officials learned that 40% of the city’s population was vulnerable to these high temperatures, primarily seniors, young children and student athletes.
The September 12 conference, hosted by the city’s Office of Sustainability, was held at the California Air Resources Board’s Southern California headquarters. About 180 attendees — a mix of nonprofit leaders, government officials and climate experts — heard from experts about the increasing number of heat-related illnesses, new data on weather patterns and new programs being implemented across Riverside County to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat on people.
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Dr. Shunling Tsang, department chair of family medicine at Riverside University Health System (RUHS), said heat-related illnesses were a silent killer.
In the past seven years, there have been 278 heat-related deaths reported within the county and 7,664 emergency room visits, according to RUHS data, both of which were on the rise. In 2025, Tsang said there had already been about 880 heat-related emergency room visits.
“I think this is a significant undercount,” she said. “By the time they get to me in the emergency room, we’re dealing with a whole different set of things and we may not be coding appropriately.”
Tsang said those who spend time outside in the heat should take some simple precautions such as going out with a group of people who can spot the symptoms of heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses.
Beyond asking people to take precautions when it comes to extreme heat, organizations like the Janet Goeske Center have been working to support vulnerable populations during heatwaves, while also advocating for additional resources.
Juan Landeros-Tavera, the climate justice director for RUHS and a speaker at the event, said his team was working to survey the community on efforts they would like to see implemented in their neighborhoods to mitigate the negative impacts of heat.
Another effort, which recently received funding from the California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovations, was the Cool Streets for Affordable Housing Neighborhoods Program led by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments. The program aims to create a regional cool pavement implementation roadmap while also installing a pilot project at an affordable housing site to show how cool pavements can mitigate the health impacts of extreme heat.
“It’s great to really bring people together with a unified vision and idea of how we tackle something as existential [as] extreme heat,” Landeros-Tavera said. “It’s really nice to see from all these diverse groups coming here and bringing their perspective and identifying ways that we can collaborate to have the most impact on our communities.”
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