What are heat islands?

May 13, 2025, Southern Environmental Law Center

As our climate continues to warm, more and more evidence reinforces the importance of trees and their shade in ensuring everyone can weather the hotter summer days and nights ahead.

Across the South, we see communities suffering from dangerously hot summer days. This is the combined result of extreme heat worsened by climate change and the urban heat island effect, where the materials like concrete and asphalt used in parking lots, buildings, and roads hold and give off heat more than natural ground cover like bodies of water, trees, and other plants. This means, on the same day, a city center will often be notably warmer than nearby suburban or rural areas.

One place this is playing out is the Southside of Richmond, a historically Black area named for its place relative to the James River.