Researchers measure how some Chicago neighborhoods are more vulnerable to heat
CHICAGO (CBS) – On what was a scorcher of a day, Chicago residents know that living by Lake Michigan can help with cooling off.
But not everyone feels that cool breeze. In fact, depending on where residents live, they may be hotter than other parts of the city. CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported on how researchers have found ties between high heat vulnerability and disadvantaged communities.
There are a couple of obvious, and some not-so-obvious, reasons for the temperature differences across the city. On Friday, the city and community partners are gathering important data to help address those disparities in the future.
It's Chicago's communities of color that are likely feeling temperatures that are sizzling a little hotter.
"They have been disinvested in with green infrastructure, trees, parks, everything," said Dr. Howard Ehrman of Mi Villita Neighbors and a former assistant city of Chicago health commission. "But they've been hyper-invested in in terms of things that cause heat."
Those things that cause extra heat include heavy traffic, roads, parking lots, and large industrial areas.
Ehrman is one of the stakeholders who pushed for the massive heat mapping projects that's underway in the city. He said there's going to be up to a 20-degree difference for readings taken across the city at exactly the same time, and it's communities of color who are often the most impacted.
More than 500 paid "resident scientists" will be using high-tech sensors to measure temperatures in 76 neighborhoods as they drive.
Why? They are gathering the data to help address heat disparities in the future.
"We want to identify vulnerability," said Raed Mansour, the director of environmental innovation with the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Chicago is the largest city by population that has ever attempted this project. Since heat is the top weather-related cause of death in the U.S., Mansour told CBS 2 they'll be using the data to help save lives.
"What can we bring over here that could help prevent hospitalizations and deaths?" he said.
Mansour added that while planting trees is an important long-term step, the data will be used to direct funds to the neighborhoods that need it.
"To make sure all public buildings have solar and generators and also places that people can go when the lights go out," he said.
The city could also do something as simple as installing a green park or a splash pad, with scientific evidence showing which communities need it most.
"How do we create more of these resources in the community that aren't too far that families can enjoy together? Mansour said.