Legendary climatologist Arthur Rosenfeld recently told the website SolveClimate that painting roofs white in cities could help reduce the
urban heat-island effect. "Some would say it's worth doing for that alone," he said.
Moreover, the
urban heat-island effect could exacerbate summertime temperature increases, while drought, commonplace in the Southwest, could become more severe.
Kirsch Pink, which bears pink flowers between May and November, also eases the
urban heat-island effect by 1.3 times, it said.
Garlands Starburst mineral provides 50 to 60% reflectivity, which can decrease rooftop temperatures to about 1200 F, significantly reducing
urban heat-island effect and extending the working life of the roof.
Shade trees are important for reducing air-conditioning bills and mitigating global warming and the
urban heat-island effect, Parker says, but it is necessary to reduce fossil fuel inputs while maintaining these trees.
Masterson received the media award for her work in developing a 12-episode Cool Communities TV series that promoted trees and light-colored surfaces to reduce the
urban heat-island effect. AMERICAN FORESTS received the partnership award for organizing April's Global ReLeaf Earth Day Walk for Trees, which was attended by 1,500 people and raised more than $50,000 to replant trees lost to Hurricane Andrew.
In most cases, they tend to heat their surroundings--a process known as the urban heat-island effect. Even a casual observer can spot this effect by glancing at the daily temperature differences between cities and their cooler suburbs.
In other words, the urban heat-island effect fails to explain the entire temperature rise seen in the records.
The
urban heat-island effect overtaking Frederick offers a unique research opportunity.
The lowest priority is to plant where trees "fill in" the open spaces to help reduce the
urban heat-island effect by modifying wind patterns as part of the total urban forest.
Rosenfeld, a leading analyst of
urban heat-island effects, has long advocated tree planting to reduce urban heating and to sequester the carbon dioxide emissions that threaten to initiate a global warming (SN: 5/7/88, p.