# How to dramatically lower city temperatures

- Link: https://www.widthness.com/how-to-dramatically-lower-city-temperatures/
- Published: 2021-06-22T09:30:46-05:00
- Author: Curated by Theresa Wysocki

Image caption: The urban heat island effect in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 2018. [Image: NOAA]. Article by Hessam Azarijafari and Randolph E. Kirchain. Fast Company – June 21, 2021. If done right, light-colored, reflective pavement can cool urban areas. When heat waves hit, people start looking for anything that might lower the temperature. One solution is right beneath our feet: pavement. Think about how hot the soles of your shoes can get when you’re walking on dark pavement or asphalt. A hot street isn’t just hot to touch – it also raises the surrounding air temperature. Research shows that building lighter-colored, more reflective roads has the potential to lower air temperatures by more than 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 C) and, in the process, reduce the frequency of heat waves by 41% across U.S. cities. But reflective surfaces have to be used strategically – the wrong placement can actually heat up nearby buildings instead of cooling things down. […] Click here to view original web page at www.fastcompany.com This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Curated by Theresa Wysocki See Full Bio