Abstract
The urban heat island (UHI), formed by surface modification of soil and vegetation, increases minimum nighttime temperatures within cities and causes heat-stress among dwellers. Children, elders and low-income persons are disproportionately burdened by the UHI. These populations often lack the necessary biological, economic and social resources to cope with or prevent heat stress. Because UHI’s are expected to increase with climate change, more social workers will be expected to serve the populations most affected by UHI. This paper addresses how the social work profession can play a role in efforts to address the effects of UHI’s on vulnerable populations.
Highlights
Science has determined that surface modification of soil and vegetation can increase temperatures
Excessive heat lingers in urban areas well past daytime, and temperatures remain elevated into evenings and nights
Excessive heat can harm individual health and wellbeing, especially individuals in temperate climates not acclimated to long intervals of excessive heat or vulnerable populations such as elders, children and people without access to air conditioning (Harlan et al, 2006)
Summary
Science has determined that surface modification of soil and vegetation can increase temperatures. Any city with significant amounts of surface modification experiences increased urban temperatures, whether its natural climate is temperate, tropical, warm or arid (Harlan, Brazel, Prashad, Stefanov, & Larsen, 2006). Nighttime elevation of temperatures causes the most harm to urban dwellers This increase in temperature within urban cores, when compared to adjacent rural and suburban areas, has been coined as the urban heat island or UHI. Research and information on urban heat islands could not be found in journals on human services or social sciences as disciplines such as meteorology appeared to study UHI’s and their impacts on communities. This has changed within the last two decades. Recent research in the social sciences identify that urban heat islands appear to unjustly effect marginalized populations (Harlan et al, 2006)
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