Interactive heat maps track temperature ranges in U.S. cities

Research by Geotab shows that the urban heat island effect can vary dramatically within the same city.

The fleet management analytics firm has released temperature gradient maps of the largest U.S. cities that take the temperature of different areas of each city. Los Angeles, at 37°F, had the most variability from the hottest to the coolest location. Seattle had the lowest variation at 6°F.

The interactive maps were created by taking hyper-local temperature readings at more than 50,000 points across America’s 20 biggest cities on the same day and time (June 21st, 2017). City centers often feel far warmer in certain areas, due to factors including paved surfaces absorbing sunshine, buildings blocking airflow, and fewer trees.

The maps could be a reference for determining which areas of a city would most benefit from cool roofs, more trees, and other environmental cooling strategies.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.