NEW HAVEN, Conn. — During the sweltering heat, keeping cool can look different for many people, including those who live in the same city. This is especially the case in populated areas due to the urban heat island effect.
“Without the trees, we have a lot more of our built environment being asphalt and concrete than absorbed energy. Instead of it being reflected away or converted into water vapor, and so it just holds onto that energy,” said Drew Goldsman, urban conservation director for The Nature Conservancy in CT. “It ranges between about two to seven degrees of increased temperature in a city center compared to the green area surrounding it or in proximity to it.”
Goldsman said the disparities between heat islands and greener areas grows even more overnight.
“It’s actually in the evenings as the sun starts to set that that energy is re-radiated out from all of those hard surfaces. And that’s actually when you get the most extreme heat island effect, is in the evening hours,” Goldsman said.
Each neighborhood is impacted different. Goldsman said in some cities, one area can have 50% tree cover while others, like Fair Haven, have five to seven percent tree cover.
“Just a lot more of a dramatic inequity within our communities than you might even think just looking at the city overall,” Goldsman said.
To close that gap, Goldsman’s organization and many others fighting against the same battle have running initiatives to plant more trees in urban areas, using other nature-based solutions, too.
Though the obvious benefits are to produce more shade for residents, Goldsman said trees serve another important purpose.
“Evapotranspiration is a process in which the trees are turning water into water vapor essentially and that reduces temperatures,” Goldsman said.
While those who live inland rely more on the trees, others flock to the shore in times of extreme heat.
“The last couple days, the humidity and the heat waves have been killing me and like, I’ve been getting multiple headaches,” said nine-year-old Anthony Jackson, who visited Lighthouse Point Park with his family Thursday afternoon.
“I’m here today just to relax and have fun with my cousins in the ocean,” Jackson said.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
----
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com.
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.