Deadly heat: How rising temperatures impact low-income urban communities
By Yasmine Myftija, Biology, 2021
Picture this: It’s the middle of summer and it’s sweltering outside. You’d think getting out of the sun would be as easy as taking a dip in the pool or turning on the air conditioning until your room cools down. However, in low-income urban neighborhoods, the rapidly increasing summer temperatures can often be inescapable and sometimes even deadly.
A recent study conducted by National Public Radio (NPR) in conjunction with the University of Maryland’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that there may be a relationship between income-level and temperatures in metropolitan areas. For example, people living in the poorest neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland suffer from the hottest temperatures in the city, measuring at nearly 6 degrees hotter than those of their wealthy counterparts. Other cities within the United States were found to have an even stronger relationship between income and temperature, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Anchorage, and Portland.
NPR and the University of Maryland collected data of temperatures for each block in major cities in the United States beginning with Baltimore. They also worked with NASA’s software and satellite imagery as well as median household income data to study whether a relationship between income level and heat existed, and to what degree. The satellite images helped them determine whether there was a physical reason for this relationship, such as the style of building or greenery. Median temperatures were calculated and used as a basis for comparison. Cities were rated as having anywhere from a weak to strong relationship between income and heat. Poverty rates from the United States Census were also used in the study.
Residents in its poorest and warmest areas were recorded visiting the hospital and utilizing emergency medical services more often than those in cooler, wealthier areas.
Unfortunately, the blazing heat is only a fraction of the problem. In Baltimore, when temperatures reached a dangerous 103 degrees Fahrenheit, the risk of fatal heat stroke increased dramatically, as did complications with cardiovascular, respiratory, and chronic conditions including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although the entire city was affected, residents in its poorest and warmest areas were recorded visiting the hospital and utilizing emergency medical services more often than those in cooler, wealthier areas. Often, the very people who live in Baltimore’s hottest neighborhoods can’t afford to stay inside and risk missing a day of work. And unsurprisingly, they don’t have the same access to healthcare as others.
Residents in these areas also have disproportionate access to ways of cooling down. If individuals can’t afford to install air conditioning units in their own home, they have to deal with blistering temperatures without an escape, which can negatively impact their health. The lack of parks with pools in low income areas can make the issue even worse.
Low-income urban areas often lack the necessary greenery to help combat rising temperatures.
NPR attributes the difference in temperature to the presence of trees within American cities. While cement, stone, and black pavement retain heat, trees and green cover help keep temperatures on the cooler side. Low-income urban areas often lack the necessary greenery to help combat rising temperatures. Furthermore, these areas are often close to industrial areas containing factories and highways, which have large tracts of roads and few trees.
Some solutions are being pursued. In Baltimore, “splash parks” where children can play in the water to cool off are being built or organized in the communities that need them most. NPR also suggests that since cities are warmer than the suburbs because of their lack of trees, one solution would be to start planting more trees. Cities have a hard time maintaining a healthy tree canopy that adds shade to the environment and lowers temperatures, and while restoration is underway in some cities, budget deficits hinder these efforts, leaving low income areas disproportionately affected by the often deadly heat once again.
