LatAm Cities Sweat Over Health Risk from Urban Heat Sophie Hares - Thomson Reuters Foundation
go to original February 16, 2017

Climate change has been causing ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise, but did you know it's also fostering life-threatening bacteria? (DNews)

In cities across Latin America, haphazard development combined with heat pumped out by cars, factories and buildings is causing “urban heat islands”, where city temperatures are higher than their surrounding areas.

Temperature differences are usually greatest at night when stagnant warm air becomes trapped.

While daytime temperatures often differ by a few degrees Celsius, some areas experience substantial spikes. In Rio’s hottest suburbs, for example, temperatures can be as much as 20 degrees Celsius higher than around the city, said Andrews Lucena, associate professor at Rio’s Federal Rural University.

“This is a problem that’s going to become critical,” said Jennifer Doherty-Bigara, climate specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank.

“When we think about cities, we shouldn’t only think about the economic opportunities. If we don’t have climate-friendly cities, it will have an impact on the same productivity we’re trying to foster,” she said.

While megacities such as Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have long been affected by the heat island effect, other cities such as Santiago, Lima and Buenos Aires are now suffering from it too, climate experts said.

Changing building design and materials, enhancing airflows and simply planting trees could help make cities and their residents more resilient to the urban heat island effect, which can worsen pollution, boost energy demand and even curb economic activity, said experts.

Read the rest at Concord Register

Related: North American Climate Cooperation at a Crossroads (American Progress)

Related: Drought and Climate Change Are Forcing Young Guatemalans to Flee to the U.S. (The Huffington Post)

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