Poor Neighborhoods are Hotter than Rich Ones — Especially During Heat Waves
CNBC
By: Diana Olick
Poorer neighborhoods are hotter than wealthier ones.
That’s the overriding finding from the New York City component of a national project to map urban heat islands. Scientists have long known that urban areas generate heat, but until now they’ve not been able to map them street by street.
On a searing summer day in New York city this past July, volunteers fanned out in cars with sensors to track heat and humidity. They traveled from the crowded tenements and truck-lined streets of the South Bronx to the open avenues of Manhattan’s upper east side.
The heat trackers told a striking story. On one afternoon in July there was at least a 7 degree difference between the South Bronx, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York city, and the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the wealthiest. The difference was even wider between the South Bronx and Central Park: Nearly 10 degrees.
