Climate change is turning up the heat and the hottest places to be in the future will be cities.
For many years, geographers and urban planners noticed that towns and cities were always hotter than the surrounding countryside. Our cities, made of concrete, asphalt, tiles and tin amplify the heat, warming up during the day and radiating heat all night. These materials are also ‘impervious’ surfaces that do not allow rain to soak in. Unpaved areas absorb the rain, providing a cooling effect from the moisture.
Urban areas can be between 4 and 10 degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas. For most urban residents the answer is to crank up the air conditioning. But the electricity use ultimately makes climate change worse, and for the city’s poorest residents, the cost is too much to bear.
