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 language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 738-750 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | One Earth |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 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)