What are urban heat islands? To begin with, they are not vacation destinations. Urban heat islands are the result of stored energy being released, which creates a spike in climate temperatures. Simply put, urban heat islands are caused by the heat produced by concrete and asphalt and the lack of vegetated surfaces to balance the heat factors. In turn, a dome of warmer air is created over a city.
Let’s take Atlanta, GA, for example. It’s one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. To drive through the city of Atlanta, you might think there’s an abundance of lush greenery. Think again. Atlanta is suffering a desperate decline in trees, which ultimately causes the temperatures to soar.
Why the tree decline? And exactly how does this create a perfect breeding ground for urban heat islands? The decline in trees is directly related to Atlanta’s growth spurt, which shows no signs of waning. It’s the domino effect of more people equals more building equals less green space. Urban heat islands thrive in populated areas. Do the math, and you can see why Atlanta’s temperatures have risen approximately 10 degrees in a 10-year-period.
Among Atlanta residents, “growth is frequently identified with paving over the landscape,†according to an Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Quality Growth 2003-2004 Task Force Presentation. Between the paving and the building, the heat saturation rises to an incredibly taxing level, and the only way to meet and beat this problem is to create more tree canopy for urban heat island control.
The baking phenomenon in Atlanta has a likely chance of boiling over to other cities as well. The hot weather that forms over Atlanta can actually blow into the zone of other regional cities as far away as Macon and Athens. The result is decreased air quality in the city’s not-so-near surrounding areas.
“Hotlanta†is a model for what is in store for other cities in the United States and around the globe. Industrial revolutions threaten large areas of forest or jungle. The ecosystem hangs in the balance.
On the upside for our southern city of hospitality, it’s mainly the outlying counties of metro Atlanta that suffer the most. Most in-town counties (Dekalb, Fulton, Cobb) have decent tree ordinances which help slow tree loss somewhat. Outlying counties such as Cherokee, Forsythe, Douglas, and Polk have tree ordinances, but they also have plenty of development.
Can we reach a balance between nature and man? Can we encourage development yet maintain an equally necessary natural co-dependency? We’d better try and try hard, or Atlanta is going to set the perfect example of poor city planning and bake to a crisp.
Jan Blair
Benefit of urban heat island: actual heat waves (such as those experienced across the country last week) tend to flow around the ‘bubbled’ region, and where the temperatures spike in the outer suburbs, the heavily urbanized areas experience a much milder disturbance.
Biggest disadvantage: not much snow in the winter.
Fortunately, the forests are on the increase across the country, surpassing even colonial levels.
I love Jan Blair’s style of writing. I live in Atlanta and all of her points couldn’t be more true. Her comments hit close to home and really showed me the state of things. Thank you, Jan Blair!
Jan, great article!! I am realy very interested where you got your sprawl images, please. The photo ones, not the map ones.
I have been trying for about 20 years now, to locate a film (or video) on just this subject.
I caught just the last few minutes of a show on TV show that featured incredible graphics similar to the ones in this article. The show’s name was Big Blue Marble, or something like that.
It was an amalgamation of urban sprawl/ population growth and deforestation. It focused mainly on the old areas in Eyurope which originated around a monk’s residence, then a small village grew, then a church was built, soon a big cathedral… all the time more & more people, displacing more & more trees. It was just spectacular.
Can you, Jan, or anyone reading this (Jeff?) please help me locate this film, which is hopefully still “in the can” somewhere like WGBH in Boston or Chicago or wherever, and now out or available on video?
Educators might have access to it whereas ‘mere’ housewives such as myself would not…
Thank you in advance,
Nanette Ward
Fallbrook, CA
Great site, check mine too please
Nanette here… I can spell, honest I can.
-Just can’t type.
(*)(*)
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I found Urban Islands by Jan Blair to be a very concise piece of writing. Her research,detail, and thermal imaging maps pretty well spelled it out.
It is a conscious rearing article that brings to mind why the rest of the world makes the statement…”only in America do you cut down your trees then name your streets after them” We only escape these urban heat islands by running to the woods to cut more trees down to build our retreat. Eye opener. Thanks Jan Blair. I will continue to look for her writings and enlightenment.
Jan is right on the money. Let’s all remember – developers build what people buy. In Atlanta developers wouldn’t be tearing down all the trees if people weren’t buying these McMansions with no trees. It sucks for us to have no shade and 10 extra degrees, but let’s also remember all those animals that lived in the woods before we turned it into suburban sprawl. Jan – let’s hear more about Atlanta’s “planning.” I think looking at how Atlanta has grown for the past 30 years can provide valuable lessons in what not to do. Start with lesson 1. Adding lanes to freeways means more people will live further away and the traffic will get worse, not better…
I like the article, but Atlanta is cold. This winter sucked ass. Also, this summer is not so hot at all. It was hotter on June 27, 1864 (101), then it was this year. Maybe we should pave over Clayon County to warm things up a bit.
Kiddies with low IQ’s typically resort to abusive language – where everyone else has to look at it. I guess it’s one way to draw attention to one’s self, though. This is not why we are here at this site, ERIC.
This was a fascinating post. Keep up the great work.
Today in New York City it hit 98 degrees. This was in Central Park. It was in the park where the trees grow. The Pavement of coarse was at least 25 degrees hotter. You know, in a concrete jungle area as these eastcoast cities have the temperatures are going to the dogs instead of the weathermans predictions. I’ve seen the temperature was suppose to be 95 degrees, but then turn 98 degrees. From this article we both know Jan that the concrete has something to do with this. Then the humidity would only have the nerve to kick in. Thank you very much for the article, because I thought that I was the only who noticed.
We travelled to Atlanta this summer and , compared to Texas, Atlanta seemed “green” and “treed”. I guess it’s all relative. Texas will be treeless and pavements in 25 years and the only question will be, “How hot will the temperatures be?”.
Great food for thought in this article by Jan Blair.
Visit http://www.treesatlanta.org to see how you can help your community and your city, whether or not you live in Atlanta!
I live in the ATL area and have no doubt this is true stuff. It’s mid-October and it feels like June!
LH