#urban-heat

#urban-heat

Air conditioning accounts for 9% of electricity used on earth and 3.2% of all greenhouse gasses. Even if some countries like Germany shuns its use, air conditioning releases close to one billion tons of CO2 each year. As summers get longer and hotter; heatwaves become more commonplace; and tropical climates expand further north and south, the demand for climate control is set to grow significantly. This catch-22 dilemma seems insurmountable but new, more sustainable solutions are being developed as direly needed alternatives.

As global temperatures increase annually, communities across the world are facing the troubling fact that their infrastructure was built for a climate that no longer exists. Offering a glimpse of the potential issues to comae, residents of Phoenix, Arizona-the hottest city in the US, and fifth-largest-are grappling with life-threatening conditions, including recent reports of heatstroke and burns affecting its community of unhoused individuals.

The vast majority of urban, public grade schools in California are paved-over "nature deserts" sorely lacking in trees or shade - leaving most of the state's 5.8 million school-age children to bake in the sun during breaks from the classroom as rising global temperatures usher in more dangerous heat waves. That's the conclusion of a team of California researchers from UCLA, UC Davis and UC Berkeley who studied changes in the tree cover at 7,262 urban public schools across the Golden State

This summer, the Victoria Line is predicted to reach a maximum temperature of 32C, solidifying its status as London’s hottest underground service for summer 2024.

In 2023, a heat dome impacted millions in the eastern US, with cities breaking high temperature records and prompting public safety responses to avoid heat-related emergencies.