Residential segregation and outdoor urban moist heat stress disparities in the United States

T. C. Chakraborty, Andrew J. Newman, Yun Qian, Angel Hsu, Glenn Sheriff

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The combined impact of urbanization-induced warming and drying on large-scale heat stress disparities remains unknown, with multicity studies using satellite-derived land surface temperature as a proxy for these disparities. Here, using high-resolution urban-resolving numerical model simulations for 2014–2018, we find pervasive disparities in all-sky average maximum summertime air temperature and moist heat stress metrics across US cities, with higher outdoor heat stress exposure in poorer and primarily non-white census tracts. Ninety-four percent of the US urban population (228 million) live in cities where heat stress burdens the poor, with heat stress inequities between white and non-white populations strongly associated with residential segregation. Similarly, historically redlined neighborhoods show higher heat stress than their non-redlined counterparts, demonstrating how historical segregation relates to present-day environmental inequalities. Our results provide quantitative estimates of physiologically relevant heat stress disparities at the US national scale and highlight potential biases when using satellites as a proxy for these.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)738-750
Number of pages13
JournalOne Earth
Volume6
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 16 2023

Keywords

  • disparities
  • environmental justice
  • land surface temperature
  • numerical models
  • satellite remote sensing
  • segregation
  • urban heat stress

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Environmental Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

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