On a 94-degree day in downtown Kansas City, the sun beating down made it feel even hotter.
Gregory Houston, an ambassador for the Downtown Council of Kansas City, was cleaning up a small park at 12th and Walnut — where temperatures can feel more than 10 degrees hotter than a rural reference point set by researchers in a new analysis.
“I have to drink a lot of water and be mindful of stuff like that,” Houston said. There are “a few spots you can cool off at,” such as at a nearby bank, Houston added, but he’s careful not to overstay his welcome.
Houston spends eight hours a day and sometimes more in areas of Kansas City that are classic urban heat islands — areas surrounded by pavement, high rises and streets and highways that reflect heat. They’re often densely populated with very little tree cover to stop the temperature difference.
In densely populated areas, people contribute to the increased temperatures by driving and running air conditioners that cool off inside areas but expel tons of warm air.
Cooler areas of the metro usually are more sparsely populated or spread out and have consistent tree cover.
“I catch the bus sometimes when I get off from work and I notice like, it's more trees so its cooler,” Houston said.
The analysis by the non-profit Climate Central shows areas such as the downtown loop, the River Market and parts of the Plaza and Westport can feel anywhere from 10 to even 12 degrees higher than the rural area scientists used as a reference point.
Lorin Simmons works construction all across the metro area. He said downtown often has the harshest climate that requires a precarious balance.
“You definitely got to stay cool but you also got to stay busy,” Simmons said. “Don't overdo it, but keep the momentum going, because once you stop, you're done.”
Last year, the heat index in Kansas City crossed 120 degrees, a city record. An analysis by the Kansas City Water Service and Climate Look suggests Kansas City will see the annual average temperature rise 4 degrees by the middle of the century.
Last year also saw the most heat-related deaths nationally of any year on record.
As global temperatures rise, city planners and environmental experts are trying harder to make heat islands cooler.
Heat mapping
Three years ago, a heat mapping analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association showed Kansas City had the seventh-greatest urban heat island intensity of 60 cities surveyed.
The campaign, led by Dr. Fengpeng Sun of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, gathered 50 volunteers who drove several routes over the course of a day in the metro area. This project was the first to collect a data set this large: about 71,820 measurements used to create a high-resolution heat map for the area.
Last year, Climate Central used that work as a reference point for a census tract analysis based on land use information. This year, analysts dove even deeper, producing a map that shows the hottest census blocks.
They found 372,702 people in blocks of Kansas City, Missouri, living in an area with at least an eight degree increase in temperature this year. Their 2023 census tract map showed about 783,000 people in this area across the entire metro.
Jen Brady, Climate Central’s lead analyst, said they wanted to zoom in as far as possible to give people a clear sense of which neighborhoods are most at risk. The larger the tract, the more likely one large plot of land is to throw off the results.
Brady said this data is valuable because often people don’t notice living or working in dangerously warm conditions unless they're told.
“It's just part of the danger that a lot of times we don't appreciate the heat that we're experiencing and we just kind of take it for granted," Brady said.
With neighborhood data, cities can better focus on where to start mitigation initiatives.
Johnson and Wyandotte counties underwent their own analysis alongside NOAA last summer to identify areas experiencing the most intense heat island effects. The campaign spanned about 200 miles in Johnson County and 100 miles in Wyandotte County, with about 200 trained volunteers with sensors attached to their vehicles.
"This is really important data not only from a broad perspective of how a hot day is hot, but where is a hot day the hottest, who is impacted and what do we do about that,” said Brian Alferman, the sustainability program manager for the Johnson County.
Community impacts
Some of the impacts on community health are obvious — heat stroke and dehydration among the chief concerns — but heat islands can also lead to worse air quality.
“We know how our climate has been changing, we know that our summers are getting longer, they’re starting sooner and we’re seeing less rain and more droughts,” said Johnson County epidemiologist Jackson Ward. “We know how that creates those downstream health impacts.”
From an energy management perspective, they can drive up energy costs in communities hit the hardest.
In Johnson County, homes and businesses up and down I-35, the Gardner-Edgerton area and western Olathe suffered the most.
In Wyandotte County, Armourdale, Argentine and Northeast Kansas City were hit hardest. The people in these communities are predominantly Latino and Black.
Hannah Conner, a social epidemiologist for the Unified Government Public Health Department, said the heat map aligns nearly perfectly with historical redlining maps.
“The incomes in both Armourdale, Argentine and Northeast KCK are fairly low, so we're seeing a high energy burden for census tracts with low median household incomes,” Conner said.
According to a Climate+Energy Project report, districts that had Home Owners Loan Corporation ratings of “D” and “C” — which designated "hazardous" and "declining" neighborhoods not eligible for most home loans or investments — tend to have higher surface temperatures and fewer trees.
Those low-rated neighborhoods include Rosedale, parts of Westport and Midtown, neighborhoods around Swope Parkway, Blue Valley, the Historic Northeast, Armourdale, many parts of Kansas City, Kansas, and elsewhere.
Planting the seeds of change
A common solution is improving an area’s tree canopy. Measurements taken around the metro by the environmental group Bridging the Gap showed just a bit of shade can keep temperatures up to 20 degrees cooler.
Joe Wheelock, program manager for Bridging the Gap’s Heartland Tree Alliance, said they are working to put that knowledge to work right now through a tree planting initiative in partnership with the Crossroads Community Association.
By the time their project is done at the end of the year, they will have planted 150 to 200 new trees along sidewalks.
According to the 2024 Climate Central map, the Crossroads heat index pushes temperatures about eight degrees higher on any given day, and it is just south of some of the hottest islands in the city. According the community association, just 3% of the area has tree cover.
“It is difficult in a lot of our hottest spaces that weren't really planned for this green infrastructure, and so going backwards can be kind of difficult and creating the space for that," Wheelock said. "But it will be really important as we know.”
Rick Usher, a Crossroads Community Association board member and leader of their Street Tree Initiative, said efforts to plant trees won't stop at the end of the year. The goal of the program is to plant 100 new trees every year.
“The most important thing in a tree program is the ongoing maintenance, watering and just care of the trees,” he said. “We've seen, you know, lots of examples of trees being planted, nobody waters them or maintains them or over the years, the metal grates that might be in the tree well aren't removed and the tree grows over those and it kills a tree.”
Beyond local organizations, Kansas City, Missouri officials are using grant funds to plant 10,000 trees in the next three years. The city applied for and was selected for a $12 million award through the USDA to improve tree canopy from planting to maintenance.
They’re also focusing on ways to address the energy burden, through energy efficiency programs like Water & Energy Savers and renewable energy programs like Share the Sun.
City officials have also established 10 cooling centers around the city and are also exploring ways to use cool surfaces in future developments.
Planning for the future
Tom Jacobs, chief resilience officer and director of environmental programs at the Mid America Regional Council, praised the ongoing efforts from both Bridging the Gap and the City of Kansas City.
MARC and Evergy are currently looking into mitigation measures in eight neighborhoods adjacent to Independence Avenue that report notable impacts from the heat island effect.
A previous study conducted by UMKC to support the initiative noted a lot of impervious surfaces along the area. It also noted where the existing tree canopy could be improved and new trees could be planted alongside the gray infrastructure like roads, buildings and sidewalks.
“Evergy is also going to be testing out different white roof technologies, whether it's a paint or different kinds of roofing materials and we'll be evaluating how well that works,” Jacobs said.
These kinds of efforts weren’t happening 10 years ago, Jacobs said. That change excites him, but it's going to take a lot more than trees to approach a total solution.
He’s quick to note planners have to think differently in the future so as not to make the same mistakes and further intensify heat island impacts.
“So as we grow and develop and redevelop, how are we designing the city and building the city?” Jacobs said. “I think there's a lot more support, support for doing that in ways that are greener.”
On a smaller scale, anyone can help by planting native trees and plants in their yard or on their balconies. People can visit Bridging the Gap’s website to learn more about how to volunteer, get a free tree or for any advice on native plants.
