There’s a strong chance that last week’s scorching temperatures were even hotter than reported for those living in underserved urban areas.
There’s a strong chance that last week’s scorching temperatures were even hotter than reported for those living in underserved urban areas.
It’s been well established that more impoverished areas within cities are typically hotter than their wealthier neighborhoods. Dubbed “urban heat islands,” these communities have more buildings, less vegetation and somewhat higher population density, which combine to produce the heating effect.
New research from environmental engineers at Duke University has shown that citizen science tools used to gauge heat in these urban areas likely understate the problem of heat islands. The researchers also suggest a statistical method to improve estimates of urban heat.
Read more at Duke University
Photo Credit: geralt via Pixabay
