Baltimore ranks ninth in the nation for the highest temperature index
This month's Climate Center report scored among the highest in the country's heat index.
The index score rates 7.08 Baltimore's ninth city nationally, which means the city could be seven degrees warmer on average. The report cites the building's height and non-jet roof as critical components.
"It's not surprising. It's also an old city. So, not many of these old buildings were built to live in the climate we're in now, right?" said Dr. Elizabeth Dahl of Loyola University, Maryland. "[Tall buildings] may shade the surface to some extent, but the [cut] energy they absorb from the sun releases heat into the surrounding spaces."
A survey report from 2019 showed that McElderry Park was the hottest neighborhood in Baltimore.
"It's too hot to be here, even for the kids. It's 80 degrees Celsius at night," Warren Hawkins said on Tuesday in Macilderry Park. "Look, there are no trees. It is a wide-open area. Nothing but the sun."
Dr. Dall, who tracks Baltimore's air quality in real-time, said the city needs to increase its trees to lower the temperature index.
"Get more street trees and also conserve the spaces we have," Dahl said. "Making the streets shaded, making it easier for people to walk from one place to another."
Research shows that painting the ceiling white can reduce the heat island effect by not trapping this solar radiation.
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