The world is getting hotter due to climate change. These higher temperatures can be especially severe in cities because of the pervasive cover of surfaces like roofs and roads that absorb heat.

About nine in ten Americans are expected to live within urban areas by 2050 and extreme heat—often more intense in urban heat islands—causes health problems and deaths. Therefore, it is critical to better understand temperature across urban areas so we can implement more targeted heat mitigation tactics.

To assess fine-scale variation in temperatures, we have installed sensors at nine locations across the St. Louis region. These sensors are recording the temperature and humidity at different heights and various sun and shade conditions associated with trees and flowers.

We will use these data to create models that can better predict future temperatures across urban areas with different levels of densities of buildings and roads. These models can be used to assess where we need to allocate the most resources to combat extreme heat.

If you have additional questions about this project, email Nina at f.nina@wustl.edu.

This project is funded by the Taylor Geospatial Institute and Washington University in St. Louis, and has researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, University of Missouri Kansas City and the Missouri Botanical Garden.