NEW YORK (AP) — Ruben Berrios understands the harsh reality: Your location can be a matter of life and death when it comes to extreme heat.
At 66 years old, Berrios resides in Mott Haven, a low-income neighborhood in New York’s South Bronx with a predominantly Latino and Black population. During the summer, the South Bronx experiences some of the highest temperatures in the city, averaging 8 degrees (4.5 degrees Celsius) higher than more affluent, majority-white neighborhoods like the Upper West and East sides located less than a mile away.
This heat isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s the leading cause of weather-related fatalities nationwide, resulting in an average of 350 deaths in New York each year, according to a city mortality report Berrios remembered losing two people close to him during a recent heat wave.
Millions of Americans are currently experiencing severe heat waves with temperatures consistently above 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius). In major cities, these heat waves disproportionately impact people of color and low-income residents. In New York, Black residents are twice as likely to die from heat stress compared to white residents.
Bill Ulfelder, the executive director of the Nature Conservancy in New York, pointed out that while only a quarter of New York City’s population is African American, half of the heat-related deaths in the city are African Americans, showcasing a significant disparity.
Data from cities across the country indicate that heat-related deaths disproportionately affect certain socioeconomic and racial demographics.
In the past, deadly heat waves in cities like Chicago and Phoenix predominantly affected poor, elderly, and Black residents. Discriminatory housing policies dating back to the 1930s, such as redlining, have contributed to these inequalities. The lack of resources, parks, and trees in historically redlined neighborhoods has amplified the impact of extreme heat on residents in those areas.
Today, neighborhoods like Mott Haven in the South Bronx have limited green spaces and are surrounded by sources of pollution like power plants and highways, leading to increased vulnerabilities to heat-related health risks. Environmental justice advocates point out that these inequalities stem from systemic issues like discriminatory housing policies and a lack of resources in marginalized communities.
To address rising temperatures, cities like New York are implementing strategies like creating cooling centers and increasing tree canopy coverage to mitigate the urban heat island effect. Community members in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods have also developed creative ways to stay cool, like keeping a wet towel on their neck or using toy water guns to cool off.
Experts warn that extreme heat is becoming more common and must not be underestimated. With heat waves projected to worsen in the future, it is crucial to address the inequalities that exacerbate the impact of extreme heat on marginalized communities.
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