urban heat

Recent large-scale fires that have consumed entire communities in the wildland-urban interface are a result of human-built structures rather than wildfires, according to new research published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2018, more than half of the global population lived in cities. By 2050, two-thirds of the human population will be urbanized. New research shows that heat stress in the cities of the eastern U.S. is far greater than in the surrounding rural areas, and the human implications are scary. These researchers project an increase in human discomfort exposure from three to five hours each day.