<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/indoor-heatwave-risk-citizen-scientists-harlem/>
"On very hot days, Victor Sanchez makes sure to leave his home in the
afternoon.
“The sun just pours in,” he said of his top-floor, west-facing apartment in
Harlem, where he has two fans but no air conditioner. Sanchez usually finds a
shaded bench in nearby Morningside Park, sees a film or rides his bike to the
beach, returning home after the relentless sun has begun to set. “It’s just
dangerous to stay inside,” he said.
In 2016, Sanchez, who is 67 and works in public media, helped scientists
quantify just how dangerous it is to stay inside during a heatwave. That
summer, he and 29 of his neighbors placed sensors in their apartments to
collect temperature and humidity data as part of the Harlem Heat Project, a
collaboration between the City University of New York (CUNY) and local advocacy
and media organizations.
Scientists have long sought public participation to monitor weather and
biodiversity. But as the planet continues to heat up, government agencies and
advocacy groups are increasingly turning toward citizen science to guide their
climate resilience efforts — and keep residents safe during extreme weather
events. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has funded
crowdsourced urban heat island mapping projects in more than 50 cities since
2017, and this August, the Knight Foundation announced nearly $700,000 in
funding for crowdsourced flood and heat reporting across Miami-Dade County.
Researchers say community input can be especially valuable in communities like
Harlem, where historic disinvestment and racist housing policies, like
redlining, have left residents shouldering a disproportionate climate change
burden. These neighborhoods are often urban heat islands — areas where building
density and the lack of trees can make temperatures 15 to 20 degrees higher
than surrounding areas. Black New Yorkers are twice as likely as white
non-Hispanic New Yorkers to die in extreme heat, according to city statistics."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
