Extreme heat waves are putting lives in danger, with some of the hottest urban neighborhoods 10 degrees hotter or more than their wealthier neighbors. Often, these are communities of color.
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Articles on Urban heat islands
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More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that share is growing. Rapid climate change could make many cities unlivable in the coming decades without major investments to adapt.
Absolute temperatures are expected to rise more slowly in the tropics than in higher latitudes and polar regions, but the combination of heat and rising humidity will make life more challenging.
Buildings soak up the sun’s heat, but research shows that white roofs and surfaces can reduce temperatures inside, particularly during heat waves.
The world’s fastest-growing cities are in the tropics. They are highly exposed to climate change, especially as urban heat island effects and humidity magnify the impacts of increasing heatwaves.
Taking this step may improve the quality of life for vulnerable people and reduce the amount of air conditioning they use, making their neighborhoods less prone to power outages.
How to move beyond the warm words about tackling urban heat islands to doing something about them.
Our cities are getting hotter. Luckily, as a built environment, we can actually do something about it.
Recently published research has found that the concentration of poorer people in hotter places is a real problem for cities’ capacity to cope with climate change.
Hot spots occur at the scale of where people live – the building, the street, the block – which means urban design and building materials have profound implications for our health and well-being.
Six years after Black Saturday, it’s worth remembering that heatwaves kill more people than bushfires do, so shade can be a life-saver. But tree cover and shade are not evenly distributed in cities.
Heatwaves — Australia’s biggest natural killers — are getting more frequent and hotter thanks to climate change. One day cities such as Melbourne may see unprecedented heat, perhaps 48C or higher. But…
Air conditioners across the country are running on full this week as Australia battles a heatwave – but are we missing an obvious, leafy solution? Trees, which provide shade and act as natural air conditioners…
Can a whiter roof make your home cooler? What about your whole city? The existing literature and theory suggests that increasing the albedo - or reflectiveness - of a building will reflect incoming sun…
Top contributors
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Professor of Human Geography and Planning, University of Tasmania
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Associate, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer in Health, Safety and Environment, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning & Design, Monash University
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Associate Professor of Economics, Australia Director - Centre for International Trade and Business in Asia (CITBA), James Cook University
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Associate Professor in Urban Ecosystems, The University of Melbourne
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Tutor in MSD at the University of Melbourne, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer in Landscape Architecture, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor, Director Australian Urban Observatory, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Graduate Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, UNSW Sydney
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Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
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Associate professor, UNSW Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, School of Geography, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer and Head of Students, School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong
