Argonne National Laboratory's heat-tracking project to expand to Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood
CHICAGO (CBS) -- At the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab campus in Lemont, special equipment tracks rising temperatures and climate change across the Chicago area—and how extreme heat is felt differently throughout the city.
The South Side's Woodlawn neighborhood will soon be the next to receive the heat-tracking instruments once they're tested on the Argonne campus.
"This is a first-of-its-kind, crucial first step," said Argonne atmospheric scientist Scott Collis.
Collis called the equipment being used for the effort "some of the most sophisticated instrumentation on the planet."
He explained that the equipment features sensors that can measure the difference in heat and the difference in air quality.
The effort represents the first step scientists and researchers are taking to learn how rising temperatures due to climate change impact parts of Chicago differently.
"We're looking at, how does a city like Chicago interact in a complex fashion with the atmosphere around it, and how does heat very across the city?" Collis said.
Collis and his team are working with community groups and local colleges and universities on the effort. The federally funded $25 million program is called Community Research on Climate and Urban Science, or CROCUS.
Their research and data will ultimately lead to the best solutions for different Chicago neighborhoods.
Collis explained how those who live in underserved neighborhoods are affected more severely by extreme heat.
"Those who are emitting less carbon who are in these underserved neighborhoods, they have less access to air conditioning," said Collis. "They have less access to cooling at lakesides, and less areas of green infrastructure."
Last summer, CBS News Chicago joined the CROCUS team in Humboldt Park, where this project first started. The neighborhood is considered a heat island.
The work in Humboldt Park continues while expanding to other parts of the city.
"We can put these into our computer systems, and we can make data-driven solutions," said Collis.
Such solutions include increased green spaces, added trees, green or even just white roofs, changes in construction, and more solar panels—among others. Scientists and researchers are connecting with community leaders to find the right solutions.
"It's the opportunity to bring the neighborhood—circle them around the process," said Naomi Davis, who leads Chicago-based Blacks in Green.
Blacks in Green is a national network focused on environmental justice and economic development. She said the organization will be made much stronger through the work with Argonne—and through engaging the community.
"Argonne wanted to do deep-tissue authentic engagement, and so we started a conversation on what would that look like," Davis said.
The work will ultimately embolden the mission of the CROCUS project while engaging the Woodlawn community.
"And this is our opportunity to bring them in at a ground-floor level to begin to see what the climate crisis is all about, and how it directly impacts their quality of life, and how they can be active participants in the solution," said Davis.
Davis emphasized the importance of the data the CROCUS project is examining.
"The data that they're going to be tracking is going to be tracked for a purpose," said Davis. "Do the people of the neighborhood understand the very real consequences of the numbers?"
The team will be at work through 2027.
"All of these things are going to help us understand how our climate works now, but how that's going to change in the future," said Argonne intern Molly Hammond.
