Priyadharshini Sakthivel

McGill Univeristy

Thesis: Urban Heat and Social Vulnerability: A Data-Driven Framework for Targeted Interventions in Extreme Heat Events

Research Interests and Future Goals: With rising global temperatures, urban populations, especially in densely populated areas, face higher risk of heat-related illnesses. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas, exacerbates this risk.

Temperature differences within a city, combined with socio-economic factors at the neighborhood level, impacts heat mortality. For example, existing literature has identified that social isolation is directly correlated with an increase in heat mortality, especially in elders. And these happen to occur in neighbourhoods that are already experiencing higher UHI intensity.  When targeted interventions are developed to support isolated individuals in specific neighbourhoods during extreme heat events, health risks and fatalities can be reduced.

Conventional sensors installed by the government are purposefully placed outside urban cores to avoid UHI bias in weather forecasting and climate monitoring, making them unsuitable for intra-urban studies. To address this, I am using crowdsourced sensors, set up by citizens in their homes. These low-cost sensors provide dense, continuous data on temperature, capturing intra-city variability effectively.

The findings of my research have direct policy implications. Most Heat Action Plans (HAPs) rely on air temperatures recorded at airports to initiate emergency measures during extreme heat. My research, on the other hand, accounts for localized temperatures, providing more accurate information that will help develop customized HAPs for specific neighbourhoods of the city. This approach increases the effectiveness of heat mitigation strategies and improves public health and safety.

My research focus for now is on assessing urban heat distribution and vulnerability levels across Canadian cities. I plan to expand this analysis to India as well, where its densely populated urban centers require such policy interventions.

Fun fact about you:  I love experimenting with new food recipes (even if my family and friends don’t always enjoy the result!)