JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A brand new climate study shows that many sections of Jacksonville are hotter than the rest of the planet.
This all comes from the group Climate Central which tracked what’s called the Urban Heat Index that shows densely populated urban areas are hotter than other spots on Earth. The data accounts for more than 900,000 people living in Jacksonville.
It shows that on average, temperatures in the city are 7.83 degrees hotter. The hottest sections of the city in the study include the Northwest section of downtown, a small section of Arlington, and around N.A.S. Jacksonville.
The study said around 11,000 people in the city live in an area where the outside temperature is as high as 9 degrees above what the temperature should be.
Much of this is due to the development of urban areas like downtown where there’s a lot of concrete and people and not very many trees.
“In the city, it’s even worse because it’s coming from the cement, the buildings, the pavement, and like you said the people,” Climate Central Senior Data Analyst Jen Brady said. “Buses, cars, everything is generating heat. Air conditioners are spewing heat if you have window air conditioners. So the concentration of this in the cities raises it up to a whole different level.”
But Jacksonville is not unusual. It’s above the average temperature of the planet, but not hotter than most other major U.S. cities.
New York City and San Francisco sat atop the list while Jacksonville came in as only the 54th hottest major metro.
One thing that was of note in the study is what Climate Central referred to as “Red Line” neighborhoods which are often in urban cores, have a higher minority population and tend to be hotter.
The group said that’s because there’s often aging infrastructure and many times busy highways cutting through the areas.
News4JAX reached out to the City of Jacksonville for comment on this study. Here’s their response:
The Deegan administration is actively focused on mitigating extreme heat to keep the public safe.
Here’s a snapshot of the many things we are working on right now.
Both the natural and the built environment plays a significant role in exposure to heat, and also our ability to cope with extreme heat. We do have heat islands in Duval County and the worst of these are in the Urban Core 32206, 32208, 32209 and 32254 (based on data from the HHS Heat-Health Index).
Our Resiliency, Sustainability and Health teams are focused on multiple ways to reduce the impact of heat on the community. For example, the City’s Cooling Centers, splash pads and community pools throughout the county allow people a vital respite from the heat.
The Deegan administration is also focused on a long-term strategy to mitigate the effects of heat. This includes a number of measures, such as the expansion of urban forestry to lower temperatures, along with installing lighter-colored, more permeable pavement to reduce heat absorption and lower surface temperatures. Permeable surfaces can substantially reduce the impacts of heat islands and can minimize flooding with reduced storm water runoff, preventing the overloading of sewer systems as well.
We are also working on piloting green roofs and green walls on city buildings, and other initiatives contained in the city’s Resilience Strategy.
City of Jacksonville
Click here to read the full study.