Hot summer days are even hotter for many Americans of color
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 19: Swimmers cool off at 31st Street Beach as temperatures climb into the 90’s with a heat index expected to reach as high as 115 degrees on July 19, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
In cities across the US, people of color are enduring hotter summer temperatures than their white counterparts, new research shows. It’s another sign that the consequences of rising temperatures will hit vulnerable communities harder than others.
A person of color, on average, lives in a census tract that’s more than a full degree Celsius (nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter in the summer than their non-Hispanic white counterparts, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. That included anyone who did not identify as “white alone,” plus anyone who identifies as Hispanic. The difference in temperature was slightly larger still for Black residents....
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