Urban Heat Study: How temperatures impact the way we live

An urban heat study is being conducted documenting heat in Boise, and how high temperatures impact the way people live.

• From July 8th to August 13th, the City of Boise and the Treasure Valley Canopy Network will conduct an Urban heat study.
• The Treasure Valley Canopy Company and youth with the Idaho Conservation Corps check the sensors three times a week to collect data.
• This data will be used to show hot spots in the area and where trees or shade need to be placed.
  

( Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

We all know it's hot outside, the current air temperature is 98 degrees.

When you check the temp of things around you, like the hot pavement, it skyrockets to 118 degrees.

I’m your neighborhood reporter Jessica Davis and it is noticeably cooler here in the shade, which is why the city of Boise is studying the impacts of urban heat.

"And we're measuring wind speed right now?” Vanessa Oxford questions.

In the Borah Neighborhood, on the Boise Bench, four heat sensors are gathering data, documenting heat in the city, as these young researchers look to learn how high temperatures impact how people live.

“I go to Borah High around here so it's very cool to see how my own community is being affected by the data we're collecting,” says Vanessa Oxford.

Vanessa Oxford is a youth corps member of the Idaho Conservation Corps.

Three times a week for six weeks, the group comes and collects data from the sensors like the ones installed around the Borah pool and park.

“Our biggest thing is to see how it compares with other sites that might have different ground, different trees,” says Oxford.

In addition to the partnership with Capa Strategies and the Center for Regenerative Solutions the Treasure Valley Canopy Network is teaming up with Idaho Conservation Corps Youth to study how heat and shade impact how Boiseans act.

Lance Davisson, Executive Director for the Treasure Valley Canopy Network, says, “People tend to be more agitated; they tend to be less healthy, it's just miserable to live in the heat so if we can expand more tree canopy if we add more parks, pools like what we're next to right here those are things that can help the human experience of living.”

Once the data is collected, in mid-August, the team will create heat maps to better understand the benefits of shaded open spaces.

"Data doesn't mean much if you don’t put it in a way people understand it. And then also use that to influence climate programs and policies,” says Davisson.

Vanessa Oxford adds, “It’s really cool to see what we're using the data for what we're going through and doing for the community and for the people that live here.”

To increase the number of trees in Boise you can get your own shade tree, for free, through the City of Trees Challenge. You can sign up online, and get your free tree this fall.