The urban heat island effect is a well - documented part of city animation . Cities aresimply hotterthan their surround neighborhood , thanks to their Admiralty mile and miles of benighted surfaces like asphalt route , brick buildings , and blackened gob roof that absorb heat during the day . When night falls , these hard surfaces release the heat they ’ve been taking in all day , preserve cities several degrees hotter than their immature neighbors long after the sun has countersink . Green roofs and more parklandshelp , but they ca n’t cancel out the enormous area of paved surface in most metropolises .
In Los Angeles , authorities are combating the hot temperature of thepark - poor cityby installing California ’s first reflective road coatings design to reduce temperature , according to theLos Angeles Daily NewsandCurbed Los Angeles .
Called CoolSeal , the gray , pensive coat is designed to keep road from ingest heat , cool their surround accordingly . So far , it has been installed on a half - block of road in Canoga Park , and 14 other Los Angeles neighborhoods will be piloting CoolSeal - coated roads by the end of June . To deploy it across the urban center will cost $ 40,000 a mile , according to current estimates , and the finish will last about seven years .
There is plenty of asphalt to cover , give the effort both expensive and very worthwhile . Los Angeles County has more than21,700 milesof roadstead and200 square milesof parking space , result in the greatest urban heating island effect in the land of California — increasing temperaturesby up to 19 ° F in some places .
Earlier this class , Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettiannouncedan initiative to lower the mediocre temperature in the Los Angeles area by 3 ° F over the next two X . In a two - twelvemonth test by the metropolis and CoolSeal ’s manufacturer , the coating decreased fair summer temperatures in the parking lot of a sports complex in theSepulveda Basinrecreational area from 160 ° F to 135 - 140 ° F .
A few grizzly road could help ensure no one ever assay to fry an testicle on the sidewalk again .
