Pamela Berkowsky has over three decades of experience in defense and defense-related sectors. She focuses on how climate change impacts US military installations, personnel, and operations. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava appointed Jane Gilbert as the world's first Chief Heat Officer to expand and coordinate efforts to protect people from heat. Gilbert noted the profound effects of climate change in the Miami area, with average days over 90 degrees increasing from 27 to 88 by mid-century. The county has established a task force under Gilbert's leadership to address public awareness, outreach, and policy solutions for heat challenges.

1. Pamela Berkowsky

2. A senior executive defense consultant with the South Florida
Defense Alliance (www.southfloridadefensealliance.org), Pamela
Berkowsky has worked in defense and defense-related sectors for
more than three decades. Certified as a Climate Communicator by
the CLEO Institute, Pamela Berkowsky focuses on resiliency and
the national security implications of climate change, particularly
the impacts on U.S. military installations, personnel, readiness,
and operations.

3. With coastal South Florida experiencing the effects of rising
temperatures and sea levels sooner and more intensely than many
other parts of the country, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella
Levine Cava is taking numerous proactive steps to confront the
issue, including the naming of Jane Gilbert as the county's -- and
the world’s -- first Chief Heat Officer. The mayor created the
position in order to “expand, accelerate, and coordinate our
efforts to protect people from heat and save lives.” As Gilbert
described it in a recent CNBC interview, the effects of climate
change have been profound in the years she has lived in the area.
Moving to Miami in the mid-1990s, she experienced 27 fewer
days above 90 degrees, on average, than she does today. By mid-
century, the number of days for which a combination of humidity
and heat will bring the heat index above 105 degrees is expected
to increase from 7 to 88 per year.

4. Heat exposure is extremely dangerous and has been associated
with heat cramps, heat stroke, and exhaustion; and it is the
leading weather-related killer in the United States. This is
particularly consequential in underserved urban areas where a
lack of proper planning leads to "heat islands” with too much
concrete and too little canopy, bringing temperatures even higher.
It is also a danger to agricultural, construction and landscaping
workers with few opportunities for day-time shelter. Under
Gilbert’s leadership, the county has established a Climate & Heat
Health Task Force to address public awareness and outreach
strategies as well as public policy solutions to this growing
challenge.