As the country goes through its second heat wave so far this year, Mexico City is exposed at high temperatures, which has led to the activation of climate alerts, as well as environmental contingencies due to the concentration of pollutants.
He Last April 15, the historical heat record was broken, reaching 34.2 degrees as reported by the Tacubaya observatory and being the highest temperature since records have been recorded.
Within all the problem that heat represents is drought, poor air quality and also pollutant emissions. But why are there so many problems related to high temperatures? Experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) point to heat islands as responsible.
Jorge Méndez Astudillo, academic in the area of Mathematical Economics and Computational Models, pointed out that Heat islands represent one of the most important changes in climate of history and for which humans are responsible.
The Heat islands are a phenomenon in which cities experience higher temperatures than in other surrounding areas due to human activity, such as the establishment of businesses, the deforestation of trees and asphalt, as well as the emission of pollutants to a greater extent than in nearby areas that are not as populated.
This means that temperatures may be too high in the municipalities of the State of Mexico closest to the country’s capital, while those closer to entities such as Hidalgo or Querétaro are colder, since there is less human activity.
The people who live on heat islands, being exposed to high temperatures, they also face health, economic and energy consumption vulnerabilities. This problem is getting bigger, especially if we take into account that in 1950, 30 percent of the population, and by 2020, 80 percent of the population lives in cities.
Heat islands in CDMX: What are the hottest areas?
According to what Jorge Méndez Astudillo said, “the environmental and physical variables define the special distribution of the island in the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico (ZMVM)”, with the north and west being the hottest areas.
This makes sense if you take into account that the Secretariat of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection of Mexico City, in its daily reports, places areas of Gustavo A. Madero, as well as those near the City’s International Airport from Mexico (AICM) among the hottest every day.
The expert also said that the south and east of the Valley of Mexico are regions where the heat is not concentrated as much due to the distribution and characteristics of the region as a heat island.
“As we know, greenery reduces heat islands and there is a greater amount of aerosols where there is more population; However, the green zone is where marginalization increases, so the latter and economic deprivation have to be addressed in urban heat island mitigation programs; that is, studying the correlations between greenness and marginalization,” she pointed out.
