Keynote Speech | Joscha Legewie: “Urban micro climates, heat exposure and learning outcomes of high school students”

Rising global temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme heat waves pose enormous societal challenges. Previous research documents the impact of heat on student learning in the United States and across the world, but we know less about disparities in exposure to and the impact of hyper-local variations in heat as a result of the build environment, trees, vegetation and other physical features. This project overcomes this challenge by using a machine-learning approach to predict hyper-local heat based on satellite data and high-resolution lidar scans. It addresses the following research questions: What are the racial and class disparities in exposure to hyperlocal heat across students in New York City public schools? How does hyperlocal heat impact educational outcomes? Focusing on hyper-local variations in heat better reflects the lived experience of residents and makes it possible to examine inequalities in exposure to extreme heat across race and social class within urban areas, an important issue for climate justice.