In 2022, a year in which 70,000 Europeans died of heat-related causes, the United Nations named Eleni “Lenio” Myrivili the world’s first-ever global chief heat officer. A former deputy mayor of her hometown of Athens, Greece, Myrivili had overseen a multimillion-dollar budget and a staff of 500 and was largely responsible for establishing that city’s reputation as a leader in climate-change adaptation.
Now, she is working to expand that vision on a global scale. Her track record of making change through collaborations with national governments, U.N. agencies, NGOs, foundations, academia, and the private sector led the journal Nature to name Myrivili one of 10 people most responsible for shaping science in 2023.
Of particular concern to Myrivili is the impact that extreme urban heat — the number-one public health issue…
Read the full article originally published at e360.yale.edu.