Synergy of Urban Heat, Pollution, and Social Vulnerability in One of America's Most Rapidly Growing Cities: Houston, We Have a Problem.

ABSTRACT: During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, we analyze the expansion of urban land cover, urban heat island (UHI), and urban pollution island (UPI) in the Houston Metropolitan Area (HMA) using land cover classifications derived from Landsat and land/aerosol products from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Our approach involves both direct utilization and fusion with in situ observations for a comprehensive characterization. We also examined how social vulnerability within the HMA changed during the study period and whether the synergy of UHI, UPI, and social vulnerability enhances environmental inequalities. We found that urban land cover within the HMA increased by 1,345.09 km² and is accompanied by a 171.92 (73.93) % expansion of the daytime (n

SUBMITTER: Blackford A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11372823 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature