Extreme heat is the most dangerous weather-related hazard facing Americans, causing hundreds of deaths each year and contributing to countless more. New Yorkers are not immune to this risk.
As the climate warms and hot days become more common, researchers are studying how physical features, from trees to asphalt, make urban communities more or less resilient to climate change. Their findings will be included in the city's second report on the new climate budgeting program, “a process for systematically integrating climate considerations into the city's financial planning.”
The report lays out the characteristics that make some neighborhoods better able to cope with rising outdoor temperatures than others. It also outlines some changes to help mitigate the impact and presents a spending plan to keep the city cool and reduce emissions.
Every neighborhood in New York City has outdoor elements that impact temperature, including indoor temperature. For example, tree-lined streets stay cooler than skyscraper-lined avenues. Parks and gardens help keep the environment cool, as do bright sidewalks and rooftops. Asphalt and dark paint – common in our urban environments – trap heat.
In New York, leafy neighborhoods in Staten Island and Queens proved most adaptable to the outdoor heat, while parts of Manhattan dominated by black asphalt and clusters of tall buildings were among the least adaptable. The report's “Resiliency Exposure Inventory” assessed the outdoor characteristics of 198 neighborhoods based on their ability to contain heat. The results are reflected in this week's chart.
The city's planned capital investments to mitigate heat risk over the next decade are multi-tiered and include $574 million for local tree canopy improvements and $131 million for wetland conservation.
In addition to indoor and outdoor heat resilience, the climate budgeting program also addresses flood resilience, greenhouse gas emissions and air quality. Overall, improvements in these areas could help New York reach its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, the report said.