By Mara Elana Burstein

Extreme heat is changing more than temperatures — influencing how people move through their daily lives, whether children can safely play outside, and how people experience public space, health, and work.

That was the central message of UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation Associate Director Dr. V. Kelly Turner’s TEDxUCLA talk delivered May 26. Her presentation challenged audiences to rethink what it means to live in a warming world.

Drawing on her team’s research at the intersection of heat, public health, urban planning, and environmental equity, Turner argued that current approaches to extreme heat are largely focused on survival rather than ensuring people can live full and healthy lives as temperatures rise. “What if our goal was to live with heat, rather than avoid it?”

Throughout the presentation, Turner illustrated how heat can quietly reshape everyday routines: families avoiding parks and walking routes, workers facing unsafe conditions, and households relying heavily on air conditioning to cope. But she emphasized that the burdens of extreme heat are not experienced equally.