Dark Cars Heat Cities by 4°C, Study Finds

Darker cars absorb more heat and make cities feel hotter

In urban environments, heat gets absorbed and released by the pavement, buildings and other objects. A new study says that an underestimated factor in urban warming is heat radiating from parked cars.

Car color could be raising temperatures in cities, study shows

Dark-colored vehicles may be silently driving up urban temperatures by intensifying the heat radiated into city streets, according to new research from Portugal.Craig Saueurs reports for Euronews.In short:A study from the University of Lisbon found that black cars parked in summer sun raised surrounding air temperatures by nearly 4°C, while white cars had a far smaller effect.Dark-colored paint absorbs up to 95% of sunlight, warming the car’s me…

Countering climate change with cool pavements

To mitigate heat waves and climate change, cities can use cool paving materials that reflect more light and emit less heat. Research from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub finds that cool pavements would reduce Phoenix’s emissions by up to 6%.

Why the colour of your car might be heating up your city

The study found that black cars increased heat by almost 4°C on hot summer days.

Parked cars are heating up cities by significantly contributing to urban heat island effect—especially darker cars

The urban heat island effect describes the way urban areas get significantly warmer than the surrounding rural or suburban areas. There are a number of reasons why this occurs, although it can mostly be boiled down to the fact that there are fewer green spaces containing plants that cool off the surrounding air by evapotranspiration and more buildings and roads, which all have a tendency to hold more heat from the sun and keep the city warmer.

Parked Dark-Colored Cars Are Like Mini Heat Islands That Make City Streets Several Degrees Hotter

The color of your car may be heating your street—and your city