When the heat is on, we need city-wide plans to keep cool

Keeping our cities cool when the heat is on.

The recent spate of heatwaves through eastern Australia has reminded us we’re in an Australian summer. On top of another record hot year globally, and as heatwaves become more frequent and intense, our cities are making us even hotter.

This is the urban heat island, where city temperatures can be significantly warmer than the surrounding rural regions.

The question, then, is what we can do to keep our cities cooler.

Why are cities hotter?

The temperature difference is caused by a range of factors, including dense building materials absorbing more of the sun’s energy, fewer trees to provide shade, and less soil to cool by evaporation.

Read the thoughts of a PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Mathew Lipson, and the Graduate Director with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at the UNSW, Melissa Hart - “When the heat is on, we need city-wide plans to keep cool.”