Contemporary income inequality outweighs historic redlining in shaping intra-urban heat disparities in Los Angeles

Shreevastava, Anamika; Hulley, Glynn; Prasanth, Sai; Chakraborty, Tirthankar; Ramos Aguilera, Diego; Twomey Sanders, Kelly; Yin, Yi

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59912-x

Contemporary income inequality outweighs historic redlining in shaping intra-urban heat disparities in Los Angeles

Journal Article · Wed May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59912-x· OSTI ID:2570303

^[1]; Hulley, Glynn ^[1]; Prasanth, Sai ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; Twomey Sanders, Kelly ^[3]; Yin, Yi ^[4]

California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
New York Univ. (NYU), NY (United States)

The roots of intra-urban heat disparity in the U.S. often trace back to historical discriminatory practices, such as redlining, which categorized neighborhoods by race or ethnicity. In this study, we compare the relative impacts of historic redlining and current income inequality on thermal disparities in Los Angeles. A key innovation of our work is the use of land surface temperature data from the ECOSTRESS instrument aboard the International Space Station, enabling us to capture diurnal trends in urban thermal disparities. Our findings reveal that present-day income inequality is a stronger predictor of heat burden than the legacy of redlining. Additionally, land surface temperature disparities exhibit a seasonal hysteresis effect, intensifying during extreme heat events by 5−7 °C. Sociodemographic analysis highlights that African-American and Hispanic populations in historically and economically disadvantaged areas are often the most vulnerable. Our findings suggest that while the legacy of redlining may persist, the present-day heat disparities are not necessarily an immutable inheritance, where targeted investments and interventions can pave the way for a more thermally just future for these communities.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830

OSTI ID:: 2570303

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA--197920

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 16; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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