A new analysis of heat mapping data collected across Spokane has found that low-income people, and people of color, are more likely to live in the hottest areas of the city.
The initial research was conducted by the Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society & the Environment. Brian Henning, the center’s director, said the Washington State Department of Health helped layer Census Bureau data over the map.
The data was collected last summer when community volunteers drove across Spokane multiple times a day collecting heat measurements at ground level. The study found eight to fourteen degrees difference in temperatures across the city. Spokane was one of 14 cities to participate in the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration mapping project.
Henning said communities that had the highest temperatures also had the fewest trees. He says the built environment, such as parking lots and the types of building, also contributed.
“There were strong correlations with paved surfaces, which is not surprising,” he said.
The Climate Center is also working toward releasing results from a survey on access to air conditioning in Spokane, and a heat preparedness symposium this summer.
The research in part was prompted by the 2021 heat wave, when 19 people died in the Spokane area from heat-related illness.
Henning said the climate center is working with the Spokane Regional Health District to create a public education campaign around heat, and is looking make other partnerships to help prepare the region for future climate events.
“That's the goal, just to make sure that our solutions are at the right scale and aimed at the right people that need to be supported so fewer people die, or get sick, next time we have an extreme heat event,” he said.
