Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2024 Open Access

Heat Vulnerability Mapping: Designing Visual Tools that Effectively Communicate Risk

Kathryn Lambrecht Arizona State University

Abstract

As the impacts of extreme heat escalate, digital maps have been designed to triangulate the location, timing, and level of risk. To understand how these tools align with a range of heat communication needs, rhetorical topology is used to analyze three mapping tools that make projections at global, national, and local levels. While these tools seek to make heat risk visible, the reliance on numerical definitions and comparative statistics gets prioritized over lived experiences of heat, which could limit their impact. I argue that broadening the focus to include causal relationships and narratives may communicate extreme heat risk more equitably.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2024-12-01
DOI
10.1145/3658438.3658441
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Topics
rhetorical criticism
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

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    The Utility of Inclusivity: How Emoji Proposal Writers Navigate Oppositional In…
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