As featured by AZ Central:
As temperatures continue to rise this summer in Phoenix, the city is piloting a tool they hope will help curb the urban heat island effect — cool pavement.
Cities are hotter than rural areas because they’re covered in more dark, impermeable surfaces that absorb heat from sunlight. As the surfaces get hot, they warm the air above, creating a heat island.
Light-colored surfaces, however, reflect more of the sunlight back, theoretically keeping cities cooler.
That’s where cool pavement comes in — it’s a light gray water-based coating that’s applied on top of existing asphalt.
This article was originally published by AZ Central. Read the full article here.
