Understanding Extreme Heat in Wilmington, CA
A deep dive into Wilmington's extreme heat risk and resources for community members.
Land Acknowledgement: As we look over this StoryMap, we would like to respectfully acknowledge that the space we are sharing today resides on the unceded traditional homelands of the Chumash, Gabrielino/Tongva, Serrano and Tataviam people, and we would like to pay our respect to elders and relatives both past and present.
Wilmington Community Profile
This StoryMap looks at Wilmington's risk of being hurt by extreme heat events. For residents of Wilmington, or those interested in learning more about the neighborhood, this StoryMap is very helpful.
The community is tight-knit and a place where people try "to live a better life, sprea[d] awareness and tr[y] to help each other" ( 3 ).
Wilmington is an environmental justice community, which means that residents are subject to more environmental threats than other places in L.A. because of the many industrial sites, oil drilling refineries, and ports in the small neighborhood (see map below). Also, many community members are low-income with one in five residents living under the poverty line ( 2 ).
Map showing active (green) and in-active (purple) oil and gas wells in Wilmington. The shades of orange and red around the Wilmington boundary show other oil and gas sites that are nearby.
Due to all of the industrial facilities, oil fields, and ports in Wilmington, air pollution is a huge problem and affects residents' health negatively. The L.A. and Long Beach ports release more emissions daily than 6 million cars and local industrial sites have released more than 16 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in the past 20 years ( 4 ).
Air pollution from the ports and countless industrial sites in the area is not only unpleasant, but can worsen health conditions like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and high blood pressure - all major causes of death in Wilmington ( 4 ).
Extreme Heat and Air Pollution in Wilmington
Calendar plot showing the daily maximum temperature in Wilmington throughout Summer 2024.
The calendar plot on the left shows the daily maximum (highest) temperature during Summer 2024. It appears that there are many days where it is hotter than 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and this number is only expected to increase as the planet heats up due to climate change. Wilmington will also likely feel hotter than surrounding areas due to a lack of trees and other greenery, a concept known as the "urban heat island effect."
In the bar chart below, we can see that it has already gotten hotter in Wilmington since 1990. Here, the yellow line shows the average number of days warmer than 90 degrees within a 5 year period, while the bars show how many days were hotter than 90 degrees for each year between 1990 to 2020. We see that in general, the yellow line is moving up. This means that the number of hot days annually are rising.
Graph showing the number of extreme heat days per year (red bars) from 1990 to 2020 in Wilmington. The yellow line shows how temperatures are changing over time.
More days with extreme heat in Wilmington will make pollution from the ports, oil refineries, and diesel truck traffic in residential areas even worse. Because of this, existing health problems will be intensified. For example, higher temperatures can lead to the creation of ozone, which is a chemical that heightens breathing issues ( 5 ). When combined with industrial pollution, the risk of death, especially for residents with existing conditions, is higher on days when it is extremely hot ( 6 ).
...this heatwave really affected me. Maybe because I’m in bed all the time, it has affected my sleep. I haven’t been sleeping well, and it’s impacted my mood.
Calendar plot showing the daily level of PM 2.5 (a pollutant) during Summer 2024.
The calendar plot on the right shows the daily level of PM (particulate matter) 2.5 during Summer 2024. PM 2.5 is a harmful pollutant that can cause and/or worsen health issues related to the heart and breathing. Unfortunately, as it gets hotter, these health impacts will get worse. Darker shades of orange and red mean that air quality is worse (i.e. PM 2.5 levels are higher).
Community Characteristics
As stated on the main StoryMap, we looked at three neighborhood characteristics: age, median yearly income, and public transit dependency (how many people rely on public transit to get to work). These traits were studied as these show how at risk (vulnerable) a place is of being hurt by extreme heat.
Maps that show age, median income, and public transit dependency for Wilmington are below. Note that results are shown by census tracts, which are divisions made by the United States Census for data-collection ( 7 ). Also, part of Wilmington is blank (i.e. not a color) on each map as this is the Los Angeles Port and not many people live in these areas.
Age
The following map compares the percentage of people under the age of 5 (left) to the percentage of residents who are 65 (or older).
For both maps, darker pink and purple colors mean that there are more of a certain group in an area. It appears that there are more children (under 5 years old) in the western (right) part of Wilmington. Older adults live throughout Wilmington, but can especially be found in the northwest (upper left) and the center of the neighborhood.
In L.A. County, 5.55% of people are under five and 13.98% are 65 or older. In Wilmington, there are several census tracts that have larger percentages of people in these categories, especially when looking at people under the age of 5. As a reminder, children and older adults are more likely to get hurt during extreme heat events. Our results suggest that there are more people in Wilmington who are at risk of heat-related illnesses (dehydration, dizziness, etc.) based on age than in Los Angeles generally.
Map showing the percentage of people younger than 5 (left) and those over 65 (right) in Wilmington. Darker colors mean that there are more people in that group.
Income
We also looked at household income in Wilmington as frontline communities are more likely to be in danger when extreme heat events happen because of limited access to green spaces and other public amenities. Darker colors mean that income levels are higher.
For a four-person home in California, people are considered to be living in poverty if yearly income is less than $39,900 ( 8 ). According to our map, there are four areas where yearly income is close to the poverty line, which is concerning.
In Los Angeles County, the median annual household income is $82,026. All of our census tracts, except for one, have lower incomes. This emphasizes the idea that income in Wilmington is lower than in L.A. generally.
Income is important when thinking about extreme heat as it can affect people's level of comfort - especially when thinking about housing conditions, access to air conditioning and transportation, and jobs where people are exposed to heat for long periods of time.
Public Transit Dependency
The map on the left shows the percent of people in each tract (grey outline) that rely on public transit to get to work (commuting). As the colors get darker, a larger amount of people rely on public transportation. On the right side, we are looking at tree canopy coverage (i.e. how much of an area is shaded by trees) ( 9 ). Darker shades of green mean that there is more tree coverage.
Overall, there are not many people in Wilmington that rely heavily on public transportation to get to work. Only one area is dark orange, which means that 10 to 15% of people rely on public transit to get to work. Commuting to work via public transit is more common for those living in the center of the neighborhood.
Tree canopy coverage is generally less than 20% in Wilmington (yellow and light green shades). This means that most (about 80%) of different areas are not shaded by trees, which can be uncomfortable for people walking in the area, especially the elderly or unhoused. There is only one tract on the western (left) side that has tree coverage greater than 20%.
People who take public transportation are more exposed to heat, especially when waiting outdoors for transportation to arrive. When there is little shade from trees and in general, riders are especially at risk of being hurt by the heat.
The bus stops haven't been taken care of; they are not equipped for people to wait in the heat or rain. It’s not like in other places where they have protection, like in Redondo Beach or Torrance.
While not many people appear to use public transit to get to work in Wilmington, it is still an important consideration. When combined with the tree canopy map, we can see that the surrounding environment is not the best for public transit riders and the lack of shade from trees can make heat exposure worse.
Resources
Interactive Map
The map below shows places in Wilmington (and Los Angeles County as a whole) where residents can go during hot days. We recommend that users input their address into the WebApp so they can see what sites are around them.
Please check each facility's hours before going to them during hot days!
Interactive map that shows cooling centers in LA County - enter your address to get started!
Organizations
If you are interested in getting more involved with environmental justice efforts (related to extreme heat or otherwise), check out the following organizations.
Updates due to L.A. Wildfires
In the aftermath of the tragic fires that took place in January 2025, air quality in Wilmington and the Los Angeles region as a whole has gotten worse. In addition to the pollutants from industrial activity in Wilmington that already existed, ash and other toxins are now in the air. While the fires have been contained, the pollution from them remains and can stay in the air for years ( 10 ). Although the 2025 wildfires sparked major concerns about air quality throughout the region, these health risks and poor air quality have always been a reality and concern for environmental justice communities like Wilmington and others who are on the frontline.
Information from the South Coast AQMD about how to protect yourself (and loved ones) from wildfire pollution. Click on the image for more resources.
We urge residents to take action to protect themselves as inhaling wildfire pollution can lead to illnesses from bronchitis to cancer ( 10 ). Keep in mind that not all air quality measures account for wildfire ash or other smoke particles. When in doubt, wear a mask and remain cautious. Please refer to the picture on the left for other tips.
As Los Angeles rebuilds, we urge the city and county governments to acknowledge that this is stolen land and to see the tragic climate disaster as an opportunity to reconnect indigenous peoples to their ancestral land. The Palisades fire is on Chumash, Gabrielino/Tongva land, while the Eaton fire is on Serrano, Tataviam, Gabrielino/Tongva land. There is no one better to manage the land than its original care takers.
Sources
- Center for Climate Change and Health. Fighting for Environmental Justice in the Diesel Death Zone [Internet]. 2015 Jun [cited 2024 Sep]. Available from: . https://climatehealthconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/CFASE-one-pager-2.pdf
- Unzeta, P. In the shadows of industry: LA County’s port communities [Internet]. CalMatters; 2022 Feb 1 [cited 2024 Sep]. Available from: https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/02/environmental-justice-photo-essay-la-county-port-communities/
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Wilmington [Internet]. [cited 2024 Oct]. Available from: https://art.metro.net/artworks/exhibitions/wilmington/
- Mahoney, A. A community poisoned by oil [Internet]. High Country News; 2022 Jun 22 [cited 2024 Sep]. Available from: https://www.hcn.org/issues/54-8/south-pollution-a-community-poisoned-by-oil/
- Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Heat Waves and Climate Change [Internet]. [cited 2024 Sep]. Available from: https://www.c2es.org/content/heat-waves-and-climate-change/
- Abrams, Z. (29 June 2022). Risk of death surges when extreme heat and air pollution coincide [Internet]. Keck School of Medicine of USC; 2022 Jun 29 [cited Sep 2024]. Available from: https://keck.usc.edu/news/risk-of-death-surges-when-extreme-heat-and-air-pollution-coincide
- United States Census Bureau. Census Tracts [Internet]. [cited 2024 Sep]. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/education/CensusTracts.pdf
- Bohn, S., Danielson, C., Kimberlin, S., Malagon, P., and C. Wimer. Poverty in California [Internet]. Public Policy Institute of California; 2023 Oct [cited Sep 2024]. Available from: https://www.ppic.org/publication/poverty-in-california/#:~:text=In%20early%202023%2C%20about%205,mitigated%20poverty%20substantially%20in%202021
- LMU Center for Urban Resilience. 2020, June [cited 2024 Oct]. Available from: https://uscssi.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=f5ab42ce957546c0b8730fedd44bce93
- Schrank, A. Concerned about LA air quality? Here are 7 expert tips [Internet]. LAist; 2025 Jan 21 [cited 2025 Jan]. Available from: https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-air-quality-health-tips
