Residential segregation and outdoor urban moist heat stress disparities in the United States

Chakraborty, Tirthankar; Newman, Andrew J.; Qian, Yun; Hsu, Angel; Sheriff, Glenn

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.05.016

Residential segregation and outdoor urban moist heat stress disparities in the United States

Journal Article · Fri Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · One Earth

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.05.016· OSTI ID:1988228

^[1]; Newman, Andrew J. ^[2]; ^[1]; Hsu, Angel ^[3]; Sheriff, Glenn ^[4]

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division (ASGC)
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States)
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (United States)

The combined impact of urbanization-induced warming and drying on large-scale heat stress disparities remains unknown, with multicity studies using satellite-derived land surface temperature as a proxy for these disparities. Here, using high-resolution urban-resolving numerical model simulations for 2014–2018, we find pervasive disparities in all-sky average maximum summertime air temperature and moist heat stress metrics across US cities, with higher outdoor heat stress exposure in poorer and primarily non-white census tracts. Ninety-four percent of the US urban population (228 million) live in cities where heat stress burdens the poor, with heat stress inequities between white and non-white populations strongly associated with residential segregation. Similarly, historically redlined neighborhoods show higher heat stress than their non-redlined counterparts, demonstrating how historical segregation relates to present-day environmental inequalities. Our results provide quantitative estimates of physiologically relevant heat stress disparities at the US national scale and highlight potential biases when using satellites as a proxy for these.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Center for Atmospheric Research; National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 1988228

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-178453

Journal Information:: One Earth, Journal Name: One Earth Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 6; ISSN 2590-3322

Publisher:: Cell PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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