Urban Heat Stress and Racial Disparities

It’s hot but I want to be outside, so I head to my shady, tree-covered yard or over to a greenspace with lots of grass and plants. As I walk there, I’m sheltered from the glaring sun by the trees that line the street. Depending on which way I go, I may even be able to walk a path that is a little separated from the road, which also helps to keep the heat down.

I can do this because of where I live. There are lots of trees and green spaces. But this isn’t the case for every community. Thanks to historical discrimination against both race and poverty there are many communities that are overwhelmingly paved. They have fewer shade elements including trees, more pavement, and fewer green spaces. As a result, these areas are hotter on average.

This means that, as climate change continues to impact our daily averages and our weather extremes, members of these communities face more potential heat stress. Since these communities are often poorer and racially marginalized, BIPOC and lower income individuals and populations are facing higher risks from increasing temperatures.

In their research, Chakraborty and colleagues (2023) found that in the US, these hotter areas were directly reflective of the discriminatory practice of redlining. This is a practice where literal red lines were drawn on maps around communities with high numbers of BIPOC residents. This meant it was much harder for individuals in these communities to get loans and mortgages, which severely impacted their ability to build long term equity.

The implications of this higher heat stress are significant. First and foremost is increased healthcare costs. Presumably this increase isn’t just from the heat itself, but also from the wider range of impacts such as it’s harder to get outside and exercise or to see friends impacting both physical and mental health.

The solutions aren’t clear cut. We’ll need more than just a tree planting campaign in these neighbourhoods. But getting the data is a good start.