If you’ve ever driven back to Las Vegas or Reno from an excursion outdoors and noticed the temperature getting hotter as you go further into the city, then you’ve experienced what scientists call the urban heat island effect.
That’s the relatively higher temperature of concrete-covered cityscapes compared to the rural areas surrounding them.
Most people who live in heat islands don’t have the power to do anything about it. That’s up to urban planners and elected officials. So, what can city leaders do to protect their residents from the dangers of extreme heat?
That’s the question driving work being done at the Desert Research Institute’s Heat Resilience Lab, which was created in 2023.
This story is part of the Mountain West News Bureau’s contribution to National Public Radio’s climate series, “Rethinking Home.”
Guest: Ariel Choinard, Lead at the Southern Nevada Heat Resilience Lab
