One Of Nation's Top "Heat Islands" Is Burlington, Vermont

A view of  Burlington, Vermont from Lake Champlain

on Wednesday. Notice all the dark colored buildings.

These dark colors exacerbate the summertime heat

island effect to a surprising degree.

 Nobody considers Burlington, Vermont a broiling hot city, on the level of say, Phoenix or Baghdad.  Burlington is far more known for the bitter winter winds that sweep off of Lake Champlain. 

One recent study though had a surprising result: Burlington has among the nation's worst "heat island" effects in the nation. 

The heat island effect is the idea that asphalt, buildings and other urban development collects summer heat much more than the surrounding leafy or agricultural countryside.  That means the city is hotter in the summer than those places way out of town. 

It turns out the difference in summer temperatures between Burlington, and say, a woodsy spot in Monkton or something, is about seven degrees on average, according to a study by Climate Central.

Of 159 cities examined by Climate Central, Burlington had the 13th greatest heat island effect. The magnitude of the heat island effect in Burlington is on par with Baltimore and Miami.

That's certainly not to say Burlington is as hot as those cities. It's just that the difference in temperature between the core of all these cities and the countryside is similar. 

Burlington's high ranking in this study is surprising, given the cool breezes that sometimes come off Lake Champlain. 

Moreover, cities with lots of trees and parks tend to have a somewhat more subdued heat island.  Trees and grassy surfaces tend to have a cooling effect, and Burlington certainly has lots of trees. Cities with tall skyscrapers, like New York and Houston and Miami, tend to trap more heat than low rise cities.  Burlington doesn't have skyscrapers, so that's not the issue either

The problem probably is that Burlington is an old Northeastern city. That means lots of brick facades, asphalt roofs, dark colored walls, all of which absorb summer heat.

More newly built cities tend to at least make attempts at minimizing the heat island effect by painting walls and roofs lighter colors. That's something Burlington can try.

We do have long winters, but the lighter colors won't make the interior of buildings colder, especially in structures with decent insulation.

But lighter colors, or rooftop gardens and other mitigating factors can help reduce the suffering hot summer days can cause in Burlington. 

Overall, summers are getting hotter under the weight of climate change, so reducing the effects of heat islands will benefit everyone who lives in Burlington or any other city. 

After a relatively cool July, summer is returning to Vermont, and you will certainly feel the effects of the heat island effect once again if you are in Burlington during the upcoming week or more.  High temperatures for the next several days at least will be in the 80s. Hottest in Burlington, of course!