Urban areas like Boston experience significant temperature variations within short distances due to the urban heat island effect. For example, Lewis Place reached 94°F, while Dudley Common hit 103°F, despite being only blocks apart. The design elements, like tree cover and pavement, contribute to these differences. Emerging technologies are helping to identify urban heat islets, which can lead to targeted strategies for mitigating heat-related health impacts, emphasizing the efficiency of focusing resources on specific blocks in need.
Dudley Common is public open space sandwiched between two thoroughfares that create a wide expanse of pavement lined with storefronts. There aren't many trees to be found.
This comparison of two places within a few minutes' walk of each other puts the urban heat island effect under a microscope and shows the limits of today's strategies for managing heat.
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