Research on urban heat island maps focusing on environmental justice

Research on urban heat island maps focusing on environmental justice

Floods, tornadoes and hurricanes cause deaths every year, but in terms of weather-related deaths, extreme heat is the deadliest killer in the United States. Due to climate change, mercury is on the rise: Unprecedented heat wave Killed hundreds of people in western North America this summer One of the deadliest events on record.

For most people, it is not surprising that urban areas suffer from more extreme heat. Buildings, roads and infrastructure all absorb and re-radiate more solar heat than natural landscapes.Combine the dense built environment with the heat generated by human activities and you will soon start to see Urban heat island – The temperature in the downtown area may be 20 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the surrounding vegetation area.

Scientists have recorded the urban heat island effect since the 1800s, but people know very little about the exact cause, location, and degree of changes in the inner surface temperature of individual cities.

“Urban heat is a complex subject, with different dynamics at play in any given street segment,” said climate scientist Christian Braneon. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Research, And the co-leader of the research. “What is the ratio of the height of the building on the street to the width of the street? How wide are the roads and sidewalks, and what are they made of? How much vegetation, trees and buildings introduce how much shadows? This complexity makes it impossible to directly measure Under the circumstances, it is difficult to accurately say what the external temperature of a certain city may be at a certain time of the day.”

Now, for the first time, New York City has launched a new collaborative project that aims to provide such street-level insights through heat mapping of parts of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Project participants Earnestine Bell Temple and Gabriel Yang hold the designed temperature sensor CAPA strategy.

On Saturday, July 24, the project equipped approximately 40 participants with portable sensors and allowed them to travel through the study area in cars and bicycles to collect surface temperature data. In order to better understand how the situation changes during the day, each team followed the same route 3 times: once in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. The collected data will not only be used to create the most detailed heat map of the region to date, but will also help identify areas where environmental justice issues are of concern.

Liv Yoon, a postdoctoral researcher and lead researcher at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, said the data will be superimposed on maps of other indices, such as geographic features and land use patterns. “But we will also map the axis of social inequality, such as race, income level, historical development patterns, and existing health gaps, to show the compound vulnerability risk factors of extreme heat and urban heat island effects and their consequences,” she said.

Red line map of New York City. source: New York City Environmental and Health Data Portal

In cities across the United States, racially and socioeconomically marginalized communities disproportionately bear the burden of environmental degradation and related health problems. The historical record contains some obvious examples of how certain neighborhoods were marginalized during the development of New York City.Urban planner Robert Moses prioritizes highways over public transportation and often Road through impoverished areas. From cholera to COVID-19, Epidemics have hit the poorest communities in New York City the hardest in history. Since the 1930s, Red line – The divestment of communities deemed “unwelcome” – leads to deep-rooted poverty and a lack of resources and opportunities.

“Many of the neighborhoods in our study area have been red-lined and are still densely populated, mainly low-income black and brown residents,” Yoon said. “The red line excluded these communities from real estate and infrastructure investment, leading to differences that still exist today, including greater vulnerability to extreme heat and related health risks.”

Dr. Melissa Barber (right) of South Bronx Unite talking with a reporter at the Maria Sola Community Green Space.

In the shadow of the highway overpass, the co-founder of the project partner Melissa Barber (Melissa Barber) South Bronx United, Sitting at a picnic table under a big tree in the green space of María Sola community. “When the judge said that FreshDirect could use the 21-year-old environmental impact statement to build a warehouse here, we were stunned,” Barber said. “So, the members of our community said, well, we will conduct our own environmental research. We will measure truck traffic, air quality, noise pollution… and then we can have a real conversation about ethics and environmental justice in our community.”

The northern part of the study area includes the South Bronx, East Inwood, and Harlem, focusing on these historically deprived communities. The heavy traffic, severe industrial pollution, and lack of green space in these neighborhoods will all lead to the urban heat island effect, making their residents the most vulnerable people. High temperature health risks in New York City.

In order to effectively reach these communities, the architects of the study recognized the importance of cooperating with local grassroots organizations.

Dr. Christian Braneon is at the base camp of the Upper West Side of Sakura Park in this project.

“We are proud that we collaborated with community organizations in the early stages of developing this study, and we are fortunate that the South Bronx United team accepted our invitation,” Braneon said. “These people are experts in their communities, and their input makes our research more powerful. The important thing is that we cannot treat the community like laboratory mice, but treat them as equal partners.”

During the planning phase, South Bronx Unite helped recruit citizen scientists and design routes. Looking ahead, the group will play an important role in disseminating science to the community and helping to put it into practice. The ultimate goal is not only to better understand the urban heat island, but also to begin to recognize the health and equity issues associated with it.Planting trees, reducing traffic and industrial activities, and establishing community cooling centers can all help cool communities, solve long-standing environmental justice issues, and Improve the health of local residents.

“We see how the disadvantaged in the community are affected by the high temperature, and how the environment affects our well-being,” Barber said. “But research like this makes us armed and dangerous. We can contact our elected officials and prove that we need more green space, we need to reduce traffic, we need less pollution and cleaner air.”

Map of the High Temperature Vulnerability Index of New York City. Darker colors indicate more vulnerable areas. source: New York City Environmental and Health Data Portal

Time is running out for the most vulnerable communities in New York to adapt to the extreme heat.according to New York City Panel on Climate Change 2019 report, By the 2050s, the number of days in the city that exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit each year may more than triple.

The researchers plan to release their data and related materials this fall.This project is part of a larger multi-year heat map program sponsored by NOAA National Comprehensive Thermal Health Information System. Cities in North America Participated in this initiative before; this is the first time it has been held in New York City.