Heat waves make headlines because of the extreme air temperatures they bring, but they also pose another risk that is often overlooked: scorching city pavements that can cause severe injuries and even death.
What's happening?
A tourist from Europe sustained serious burns on his feet when he lost his flip-flops while hiking in Death Valley this July. The air temperature exceeded 100 degrees, but officials estimated the desert ground to be closer to 170 degrees.
City streets can also get significantly hotter than the air above them. One burn center in Phoenix admitted 136 patients between July and August of last year; fourteen of them died from their injuries.
A warming world is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves. Scientists and city officials need support to implement policies and take action to reduce the risk of sweltering city streets.
"Heat deaths are climbing faster than any of our investments to prevent them," said Dr. Ladd Keith, an associate professor in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Arizona, per the New York Times. "We're chasing a moving target very slowly."
Scorching pavements can be cooled
Cities are trying to prevent contact burns and even deaths that hot surfaces can cause. A study of the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas showed that greener areas in those cities could be more than 15 degrees cooler than areas with fewer trees. The shade from trees blocks sunlight that would otherwise heat surfaces like streets and sidewalks.
NASA recently released its ECOSTRESS maps that showed the burn risk across the streets of Phoenix this summer. The maps highlighted surfaces at least 120 degrees to the touch, making them hot enough to cause contact burns in minutes or even seconds.
The Phoenix Street Transportation Department, through the city's "Cool Pavement Program," has applied an innovative cool pavement seal coat to more than 100 miles of its city streets. It is studying whether the treated surfaces have the added benefit of requiring less maintenance.
Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, has confirmed 27 heat-related deaths through the third week of July, and another nearly 400 deaths are under investigation. It has been another brutal summer in Arizona's capital city. The Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix has treated 65 people this summer for heat-related burns. Six of them eventually died from their injuries.
Cooling down hot city streets
Planting more trees and investing in things like Phoenix's Cool Pavement Program can help, but ultimately, cooling the planet will have the biggest impact. Reducing the use of dirty energy sources that put heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere is vital to cooling it down.
While we need both governments and companies to help prevent Earth's overheating, in your home, opting for solar panels and heat pumps can make a meaningful difference.
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