NYC Heat Mapping Study Finds Higher Temps in Lower-Income Neighborhoods
Researchers at Columbia’s Climate School worked with volunteers this summer to document neighborhood temperatures.
City Limits
By: Liz Donovan
Researchers at Columbia’s Climate School and local organizers recently revealed the results of a months-long effort to collect street-level data of temperatures in New York City during the summer—reinforcing earlier findings that certain areas suffer disproportionately from hot weather.
The goal, according to researchers, was to document how different neighborhoods are impacted by the urban heat island effect—clusters of the city where average temperatures are higher due to infrastructure, lack of green space and other factors. Researchers collected data this summer across Manhattan north of 59th Street, and parts of The Bronx. (An attempt to collect data in Brooklyn was canceled due to lack of volunteers.)
The results showed that Inwood, Washington Heights and the South Bronx—neighborhoods populated predominantly by people of color and of low-income individuals—had higher temperatures in a given day and time than in more wealthy Manhattan neighborhoods.
