Extreme heat events — like those seen in California in 2020 — are expected to worsen over the century due to climate change and urban heat islands (UHIs). Cities will likely experience the brunt of those effects. To help cities mitigate UHI and extreme heat, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub postdoc Hessam AzariJafari is studying one of the most abundant urban surfaces: pavements. He has found that it’s possible to significantly lower urban air temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions by altering pavement surface reflectivity. However, as he explains below, the effects…
