Last summer, Nilusha Welegedara and her family sweltered in their rented Edmonton townhouse, relying on air conditioning and fans to help make life bearable.
Last summer, Nilusha Welegedara and her family sweltered in their rented Edmonton townhouse, relying on air conditioning and fans to help make life bearable.
With no trees for shade, and living next door to a sun-baked parking lot, even going outside offered little relief, the University of Alberta researcher recalls.
But then they moved to a neighbourhood filled with mature trees, located near the city’s river valley.
“It’s totally different now,” says Welegedara. “We never use fans and even have to use blankets sometimes in the summer, it’s that much cooler. So it’s a big relief.”
Read more at University of Alberta
Image: Post-doctoral researcher Nilusha Welegedara found that Edmonton has “urban heat islands” with significantly higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas in both summer and winter. (Photo: Matt Photo Videography)
