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Heat mapping for Climate Justice

Five members of the SD350 JEDI team became heat-mapping scientists for a day on Sept. 13. We volunteered to drive around areas of the San Diego at certain times – starting at 6 am! – with GPS-connected heat sensors. 

It was part of a national Urban Heat Island mapping campaign taking place in nine cities this year.  The project is aimed at making sure cities focus heat-relieving resources on the neighborhoods suffering most from climate change. 

As the climate crisis increases dangerous heat waves, low-income areas with little tree canopy and lots of pavement usually are hottest. The data we helped collect are intended to direct City of San Diego funding to plant trees and provide shaded and air-conditioned facilities where people most need to escape the heat.

Union-Tribune story about the local mapping project said the City’s climate resiliency plan is expected this fall.

The JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) team members Alex Abrams, David Gangsei, Kathryn Link-Oberstar, Maura Deignan, and Susan Duerksen joined volunteers from Outdoor Outreach and High Tech High to collect the heat data. 

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