Ylenia Aguilar raised her two sons in Arizona - first in Tucson and later Phoenix, so they're no strangers to scorching heat . Just recently, Phoenix hit its 100th straight day at or above 100 F (37.8 C), shattering the record set in 1993.
She remembers scary moments 'seeing soccer kids and my own children pass out and faint from, you know, heat-related illnesses," she said. "It was seeing my sons dehydrated."
Scores of U.S. schoolyards like hers are carpeted in heat-absorbing asphalt, with no shade even for play areas. The buildings were often made with wall and roofing materials that radiated heat into indoor spaces. Kids are also more vulnerable to heat illness than adults. Their bodies have a harder time self-regulating in extreme heat in part because they sweat less, so they can become dehydrated faster. Climate change is heightening the risks. School closures related to heat are becoming more frequent, according to a report by the Center for Climate Integrity and the firm Resilient Analytics.
There is also accumulating data on temperature inequality and the effects of heat. Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, which describes Aguilar's, can be as much as 7 F (3.9 C) hotter than richer and whiter neighborhoods, leaving students and educators to swelter in a warming world. Extreme temperatures also affect learning, performance and concentration.
Yet there are well-known ways to cool down schools and neighborhoods. "When the solutions are so at hand and readily available," said Joe Allen, associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, these conditions are "unacceptable."
