A University of Nebraska Medical Center study found that in the summer some neighborhoods in east Omaha are an average of 9.4 degrees hotter than others east of 90th Street.
The study, conducted in the summer of 2022, aimed to map Omaha’s heat islands — a term for urban areas where a lack of trees and other heat mitigators leads to higher temperatures and heat exposure. A total of 68 volunteers gathered more than 43,000 heat measurements on Aug. 6 through a route tracing North and South Omaha, midtown, Dundee and other neighborhoods totaling about 80 square miles east of 90th Street.
“[This project is] the first step to better understanding temperature distribution in Omaha,” Abdoulaziz Abdoulaye Adily, the UNMC study coordinator, said in a UNMC press release. “As extreme heat exposure poses a risk to human health, we can use this information to make informed decisions to reduce risks in our community.”
Heat islands are often a health equity issue — low-income areas are less likely to have trees, parks to cool off in and other mitigating factors. As a result, their more likely to suffer heat-related deaths and heat-related illnesses such as general discomfort, respiratory difficulties, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and non-fatal heat stroke, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The UNMC study did not know which areas in the study were cooler or hotter.
Dr. Jesse Bell, director of the Water, Climate and Health Program said UNMC has to do more analysis of its data before it can understand why its seeing these temperature differentials.
The study is part of a national effort to map heat islands across the United States, led by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office.
Once the data is further analyzed it can help inform public health policy including:
- Prioritizing health equity
- Community engagement and empowerment
- Investment in urban parks and interactive water features
- Transforming small areas into green spaces
- Converting recreational areas into greener spaces
- Investing in tree canopies along contiguous streets and in parks
- Leveraging existing cool spaces through joint-use agreements
For this study, UNMC partnered with the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation, the Douglas County Department of Health, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, the Simple Foundation, the National Weather Service and the Youth Enjoy Science Program.