URBAN HEAT AND CLIMATE JUSTICE: A LANDSCAPE OF THERMAL INEQUITY IN PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA

The combined effects of two global trends, urbanization and climate change, have generated considerable concern regarding their adverse and disproportionate impacts on the health of urban populations. This study contributes to climate-justice research by determining whether elevated levels of urban heat, indicated by land surface temperature (LST), are distributed inequitably with respect to race/ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status in Pinellas County, Florida. Our study utilizes 2010 MODIS and Landsat medium-resolution, remotely sensed thermal data, census socio-demographic information, and both conventional and spatial statistical methods. Results indicate that LST is significantly greater in census tracts characterized by higher percentages of certain racial/ethnic minorities and higher poverty rates, even after controlling for contextual factors and the effects of spatial autocorrelation. This reveals the presence of a landscape of thermal inequity: uneven distribution of heat within the built urban environment and a community structure with varying vulnerability.