Extreme heat is the top weather-related cause of death in the United States, and the Biden administration is urging state and local officials to do more to prepare their communities for the kinds of scorching weather experienced this summer. The Department of Homeland Security has created new guidelines that officials can use to help design their own extreme temperature response plans. “I don’t think that people really appreciate the scope of the challenge that we are facing as a country,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told NPR. “One in three Americans — which amounts to about 130 million people — are currently living under a heat alert across 22 states of our country,” he added. “It’s a remarkable problem that requires swift action.”