![]() With wetlands paved over and nowhere for surplus water to settle, waterlogging and flooding is commonplace."Sponge cities" were designed to make greater use of lower-impact, "nature-based solutions". So what is the "sponge city" scheme, and why hasn't it worked?China has long sought to improve the way it handles extreme weather.Breakneck urbanization has left vast stretches of land in impermeable concrete, often along banks of major rivers that traditionally served as flood plains. STORY: China's so-called "sponge cities" were designed to boost flood resilience in metropolitan areas.But their effectiveness is now under scrutiny, after devastating floods inundated cities there in recent weeks.The extreme weather has caused deaths, destroyed homes, and damaged infrastructure. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content. This climate report is funded by Florida International University, the Knight Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. ![]() Miami-Dade County officials have pledged to plant enough trees to cover 30% of the ground with shade by 2030, up from the current figure of about 20%. Planting more trees to shade streets and homes can also offer some relief. That includes painting roofs white, using light-colored or reflective pavements, and making more room for parks and swales instead of cement and asphalt. “The biggest thing we can do is replace surfaces that absorb heat with surfaces that reflect heat,” said Trudeau. Miami can bring down the temperature by easing the urban heat island effect, said Trudeau. That’s especially true for residents who are living without air conditioning during a sweltering summer that has seen record-breaking daytime temperatures and nights when the air fails to cool. In areas with little shade and high poverty, vulnerable residents - including people who are elderly, pregnant, disabled or homeless - face higher risk of heat-related illness. They are: Opa-locka, Brownsville, Gladeview, West Perrine, Naranja, West Little River, Goulds, Pinewood, Hialeah, Westview, Norland, Carol City, Lake Lucerne, Scott Lake and Bunche Park. These neighborhoods have tree canopies that cover less than 20% of the ground with shade and a poverty rate over 20%. The “urban heat island effect,” which raises temperatures in cities where concrete and pavement have replaced natural landscapes, has made it up to 12 degrees hotter in parts of Miami.Įarlier this year, Miami-Dade County mayor Daniella Levine Cava pledged to prioritize 15 “areas of concern” in the county’s tree-planting efforts to reduce the urban heat island effect. Researchers at the University of Miami, Florida International University and others placed thermometers in parts of the county known to have intense urban heat island effects and found that maximum temperatures were, on average, 6 degrees higher than the official reading taken from the weather station at Miami International Airport. Those findings fit with another study published this month which concludes that many parts of Miami-Dade County get far hotter than the official temperature reading found on weather apps or newscasts. ![]() On average, temperatures in the Miami metro area - which, for the purposes of this study, covers a roughly 150-square-mile area that stretches from Westchester to Miami Beach and Hialeah to South Miami - are 8.3 degrees hotter because of the urban heat island effect, according to the Climate Central report. “With climate change, we’re already seeing increased extreme heat. “Cities are being disproportionately impacted by this heat,” said Kaitlyn Trudeau, a senior research associate at Climate Central. That means local residents who are already sweating through record-breaking summer heat have to deal with even higher temperatures every time they walk down the street. Only New York City and San Francisco trap more heat than Miami. cities, according to the Climate Central report. The Miami metropolitan area has the third-worst urban heat island effect out of the 44 biggest U.S. ![]() Generally, the effect is more intense in neighborhoods with bigger buildings and fewer trees, like Brickell or downtown, than it is in leafy suburbs like Coral Gables or Pinecrest. That ranking is based on something called the “urban heat island effect.” Basically, it measures how temperatures rise higher in cities where the natural landscape has been replaced with densely packed buildings that trap heat. Miami is one of the hottest concrete jungles in the country, according to a report released Wednesday by the non-profit research group Climate Central. ![]()
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