Working Against Urban Heat Island Effect in New Orleans
written by Anthony Mouton
With school out, the long days and blue skies of summer are coming back, but in Louisiana something else returns as well. By July and August, most of us have been there, on the shadeless concrete of a parking lot being beaten by the sun and suffocating in the humidity. We wonder: how can it be this hot? Although the summer in the South will remain a time of warm temperatures, something else is often contributing.
The Urban Heat Island Effect regards the idea that developed areas are going to experience higher temperatures, 5 to 15 degrees warmer at times, than surrounding natural landscapes. This is due to unshaded materials like concrete on the ground or on a building that become warm to the point they warm the air around them. Other factors add to the effect like a lack of ventilation from taller buildings or the addition to the temperature from heat-producing bodies like cars or air conditioners.
This increase in temperature is problematic as it can lower air-quality and demand more energy to cool buildings, yet it can also worsen a public health risk. New Orleans, consistently ranked with having one of the worst heat island effects, reports up to 25 heat related deaths in summer of 2023 many of whom affected already marginalized communities like the elderly or people of lower socioeconomic status. With signs of increasing temperatures and humidity in coming years due to climate change, local leaders have been working to find solutions.
Some of these efforts have been made in part of the city council as seen with an ordinance, Article 23, passed in 2015. The ordinance included multiple goals, but one was to give the city more regulatory power in order to promote green spaces and trees off of roads, parking lots, and other property all to reduce urban heat. In 2023, current mayor Helena Moreno, then council member, called for funding for a $300,000 study that aims to analyze heat in the city and best ways to combat it in coming years. The plan is currently still in development and just closed a round of public input this past May.
Additionally, there are some community-led organizations that have taken the problem into their own hands as well, namely Nola Tree Project founded in 2006 and SOUL (Sustaining Our Urban Landscapes) established in 2016. These groups work at rebuilding the city’s urban canopy from the nearly 200,000 trees lost in Hurricane Katrina as New Orleans now only has about an 18% tree coverage compared to other cities’ typical 40-50%. Such a canopy becomes important when thinking of heat reducing measures as more trees and vegetation lower temperatures and improve air quality. With these organizations, volunteers come together with various neighborhood residents to plant trees in addition to keeping proper maintenance. Both organizations have planted over tens and thousands of trees, but name challenges when working against prevailing concerns of trees during storms, limits in spacing, or lack of maintenance plans.
New Orleans as with many cities faces a long road ahead in working to limit additional heat though as civic participation and leadership show, the urban heat island effect has not gone unnoticed. As we commence the warm summer months consider ways to keep you and your living space cool. This includes most importantly staying hydrated, yet keeping strenuous outdoor activity out of the warmest times of the day, 1:00-5:00, is also important. For living spaces, ensuring proper insulation and ventilation (fans and open doorways) while blocking extra sunlight can be ways to save energy and lessen heat.
