urban heat islands
Newsletter
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Many New York City neighborhoods face high heat vulnerability this summer
As New York City braces for another hot summer, 80 neighborhoods are identified as highly vulnerable to heat, with many of these areas being low-income communities or communities of color.
In short:
- A new Heat Vulnerability Index ranks 80 NYC neighborhoods as highly susceptible to heat, with 60-70% of residents from low-income or communities of color.
- Black residents are twice as likely to die from heat stress compared to White residents and have less access to air conditioning.
- Projections indicate a sharp increase in the number of days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit and heat waves by the 2030s.
Key quote:
“Heat vulnerabilities are really multifaceted and alleviating the Urban Heat Island Effect is a really important part of the equation. And, we want to achieve equity of canopy and vegetation.”
— Mike Treglia, lead scientist, Nature Conservancy’s New York State Cities Program
Why this matters:
These findings underscore a harsh reality: heat doesn’t impact all New Yorkers equally. The city’s infamous urban heat islands—areas that experience higher temperatures due to dense infrastructure and limited greenery—are disproportionately located in marginalized neighborhoods. Here, residents often lack the resources to mitigate the effects of heatwaves, such as air conditioning or access to cooling centers.
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A scientist in Louisville is compiling data on trees and human health
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Heat-related deaths could increase fivefold by middle of 21st century, WHO co-authored report says
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Without tree cover, urban Californians are hit harder by heat, air pollution
California cities have the least urban tree canopy in the U.S. A Los Angeles housing project shows how residents can transform their environment — if they can get support.
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Watch: NC officials launch Climate Action Corps to fight against climate change
North Carolina is launching a Climate Action Corps to work on projects to make the state more resilient to extreme weather.
Southern Nevada at risk of losing tree shade to extreme heat
Southern Nevada is at risk of losing the few trees it has due to extreme heat, a loss that would only exacerbate how unevenly protective tree shade is distributed across communities in one of the fastest-warming metros in the nation.
New York, LA, Chicago and Houston, the nation’s four largest cities, are among those hardest hit by heat islands
A new study of heat exposure disparities also puts Chicago among the cities with the largest share of people living in heat islands that are as much as 12 degrees hotter than the cities’ baseline temperatures.
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