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Two years ago, Robbie M. Parks, an environmental health scientist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Nathaniel Matthews-Trigg, director of climate and disaster resilience at Americares, founded an online community on Reddit, r/heat_prep, where members share information and advice about coping with extreme temperatures.

A new article in the Journal of Climate Change and Health details the growing community, its concerns and its potential to model how to communicate about climate change–related extreme heat and other public health concerns.

Parks, Matthews-Trigg and co-authors analyzed the most popular posts from r/heat_prep, which today has more than 20,000 members, and administered a survey. They found that engagement peaked during the Northern Hemisphere warm season, with posts centered on practical advice, personal experiences and improvised cooling strategies.

Most respondents reported frequent heat discomfort and associated physical and mental health effects, and preferred Reddit for heat-related information over traditional channels. Community discussions highlighted low-cost adaptations, peer-driven innovation and emotional support through humor and collective sense-making.

"As climate change intensifies extreme heat, lived experiences of hazardous conditions are increasingly documented in large online communities, which form global spaces where people discuss, experiment, and crowdsource strategies for responding to heat-related challenges," the authors write.

Across content analyses and survey responses, a recurring pattern emerged: a disconnect between official heat-health guidance and the advice some people seek as temperatures rise.

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