City Of Raleigh: Urban Heat Island Data To Be Released February 3

Raleigh NC

01 February, 2022

9:30 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Raleigh: Jan 31, 2022 According to the National Weather Service and the CDC, extreme heat causes the most weather-related deaths in the United States(link is external). In the South, we are used to hot summers, but we are likely to see more hot days, more heat waves, and more warm nights as the effects of climate change are increasingly felt in our region. In order to better understand urban heat and how it affects the Triangle, in July 2021 over 150 community volunteers in Raleigh and Durham County spent a day collecting data for the Urban Heat Island Temperature Mapping Campaign(link is external), a citizen science project to generate maps showing the areas' urban heat islands (UHI). On Feb. 3 at 6.p.m, project partners will host the Raleigh/Durham HeatWatch UHI Data Release(link is external), a public webinar to introduce these maps to the community. At this webinar, representatives from the North Carolina State Climate Office, Museum of Life and Science, City of Raleigh, Durham County and CAPA strategies will present the data and discuss efforts to mitigate heat islands. On hot days, there can be large temperature differences between different neighborhoods of a city. Factors like tree cover and amount of impervious surface can determine how different areas experience heat. The UHI Mapping project helps project partners and communities understand where heat islands are located, so that heat mitigation strategies can be identified and deployed, and residents who are most vulnerable to heat impacts can be connected to services. This project was a part of the 2021 National Integrated Heat Health Information System(link is external) (NIHHIS) and Climate Adaptation Planning Analytics (CAPA) HeatWatch Campaign. Raleigh and Durham were among 13 locations around the country selected to participate. The local project partners were the City of Raleigh, Durham County(link is external), the NC Museum of Natural Sciences(link is external), Museum of Life and Science(link is external), Activate Good(link is external), NC State Climate Office(link is external), NOAA(link is external), the National Weather Service(link is external), and CAPA Strategies(link is external). The data collected through this project was analyzed by CAPA Strategies in Portland, OR, which developed the maps. This press release was produced by the City of Raleigh. The views expressed here are the author's own.