Citation

Stone B, Hess JJ, Frumkin H. Environ. Health Perspect. 2010; 118(10): 1425-1428.

Affiliation

School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

DOI

10.1289/ehp.0901879

PMID

20889439

Abstract

Background: Extreme heat events (EHEs) are increasing in frequency in large U.S. cities and are responsible for a greater annual number of climate-related fatalities, on average, than any other form of extreme weather. In addition, low-density, sprawling patterns of urban development have been associated with enhanced surface temperatures in urbanized areas.Objectives: In this study. we examined the association between urban form at the level of the metropolitan region and the frequency of EHEs over a five-decade period.Methods: We employed a widely published sprawl index to measure the association between urban form in 2000 and the mean annual rate of change in EHEs between 1956 and 2005.Results: We found that the rate of increase in the annual number of EHEs between 1956 and 2005 in the most sprawling metropolitan regions was more than double the rate of increase observed in the most compact metropolitan regions.Conclusions: The design and management of land use in metropolitan regions may offer an important tool for adapting to the heat-related health effects associated with ongoing climate change. Editor's SummaryThere is increasing concern that urban development patterns may be contributing to the increased frequency of extreme heat events in large U.S. cities. Stone et al. (p. 1425) examined the association between a metric of urban form (the sprawl index) and the frequency of extreme heat events over a five-decade period. The authors report that the annual occurrence of extreme heat events is increasing in large metropolitan regions of the United States, and that the rate of increase is higher in sprawling areas than in more compact metropolitan regions. This association was independent of metropolitan population size and the rate of population growth. The authors conclude that the design and management of land use in metropolitan regions may offer an important tool for estimating heat-related health effects associated with ongoing climate change.

Language: en