News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
Students and Teachers Needed for Urban Heat Island IOP
What is the Urban Heat Island Effect? It's when cities tend to be hotter than their surroundings due to all of the concrete and asphalt, and less trees. Dr. Kevin Czajkowski ("Dr. C"), lead scientist for The GLOBE Program's Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) effort, needs YOU to collect data near you to help us all understand this topic better!
Dr. Czajkowski is looking for students and teachers to study the temperature of their school for the Urban Heat Island Effect Intensive Observation Period (IOP) in October. Dr. Czajkowski is looking for students to observe how hot their school's playgrounds, sports fields or parking lots are.
Participants can measure data around their schools and ask themselves questions like:
- Why are playgrounds so hot? Does the ground cover matter?
- How do turf sports fields compare to other types of fields?
- Many high schools are having students paint their parking spaces to raise money for the prom. How does that change the temperature of the parking space?
More information can be found on the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) page. Questions may be directed to Dr. Kevin Czajkowski at kevin.czajkowski@utoledo.edu.