{"id":19795,"date":"2024-06-12T11:52:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T15:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/?p=19795"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:08:58","slug":"health-equity-and-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/2024\/06\/12\/health-equity-and-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Health equity and heat\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>by Kiran Sabharwal<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As the summer heats up, we\u2019ll all be looking for shade. But finding a cool spot beneath a tree in Richmond and Henrico can be trickier in some neighborhoods than others. Not only do neighborhoods with fewer trees have less shade to cool off, higher temperatures in these neighborhoods lead to\u00a0more\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/extreme-heat\/signs-symptoms\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heat-related illnesses<\/a>\u00a0like heat exhaustion and heat stroke. High temperatures can also impact\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/heat-health\/risk-factors\/heat-and-chronic-conditions.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/heat-health\/heat-and-chronic-conditions.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chronic health conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">During hot summer months, these areas can experience even more extreme temperatures because of the urban heat island effect.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/heatislands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Urban heat island effect<\/a>\u00a0means that areas built with lots of dark pavement and little tree cover are hotter than shaded areas. Communities in Richmond and Henrico that historically experienced housing discrimination such as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dsl.richmond.edu\/panorama\/redlining\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">redlining<\/a>\u00a0in the 1930s see far\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/01\/14\/795961381\/racist-housing-practices-from-the-1930s-linked-to-hotter-neighborhoods-today\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hotter temperatures<\/a>\u00a0than neighborhoods elsewhere in the city today.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">How does tree cover shape health?\u00a0The way that neighborhoods are designed, from tree cover to public transportation access and green space availability, is an important\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/health.gov\/healthypeople\/priority-areas\/social-determinants-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">social determinant of health<\/a>. The inequitable distribution of tree cover across Richmond and Henrico deepens health inequities already in place in our communities.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">Urban heat island effect is like a positive feedback loop; while many people can cool off at home, folks struggling with housing insecurity or expensive energy bills may need to look for public places to cool off, like libraries or public pools. For residents who do not own a car, walking or riding the bus might be their only option, but they may be exposed to extreme temperatures while waiting at an unsheltered bus stop.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\">What do next steps look like? The City of Richmond is getting ready to create an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rva.gov\/public-works\/urban-forestry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Urban Forestry<\/a>\u00a0Master Plan, and residents can stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to help cool the hottest parts of the city. Meanwhile, Henrico County is working on reforestation efforts at county parks. You can also check out organizations like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.southsidereleaf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Southside ReLeaf<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.groundworkrva.org\/programs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Groundwork RVA<\/a>\u00a0that are working to increase tree cover in our area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Kiran Sabharwal As the summer heats up, we\u2019ll all be looking for shade. But finding a cool spot beneath a tree in Richmond and Henrico can be trickier in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":19786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"modified_by":"bryanhooten","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Health equity and heat\u00a0 - Richmond City Health Department<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/2024\/06\/12\/health-equity-and-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health equity and heat\u00a0 - Richmond City Health Department\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Kiran Sabharwal As the summer heats up, we\u2019ll all be looking for shade. 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