Areas with high amounts of asphalt and pavement are less healthy places to live, and a hotter climate will exacerbate the problem. The city of Charlottesville is participating in a federal program to map urban heat islands and is looking for volunteers to provide data on temperature and humidity levels. The National Integrated Heat Health Information System is a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other partners across the world. According to the website, the idea is to “understand this problem, develop a robust and science-informed response, and build capacity and communication networks to improve resilience.”
The effort is seeking people who are willing to take samples on three different occasions in the last two weeks of August. If you’re interested, there’s a volunteer interest form to fill out. If you need more information, that’s available on the city website.
On Friday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finalized the first section of their Sixth Assessment Report titled Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. A 39-page Summary for Policymakers describes in detail how human activity since the beginning of the industrial age has contributed to the gradual warming of the planet. The Arctic sea ice is melting, sea level is rising, and the report indicates that warming will continue throughout the mid-century even if greenhouse gas emissions can be cut severely. (view the various reports on the IPCC website)
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