Mat Santamouris

Friday, March 7, 2025

Why sizzling cities are mapping hot spots street by street

In metros like Reno, Nevada, citizen scientists hit the road to collect detailed temperature data — key to taming urban heat, saving lives and designing for a cooler futur.

The city of Reno, Nevada, is breaking records in ways it doesn’t like: A 2024 analysis of 241 cities showed that Reno has heated up faster than any other city in the United States.

Monday, February 24, 2025

Studying the socioeconomic roots of urban heat with Santamouris

Professor Mat Santamouris explains in this interview his recent research on how urban heat and social inequality intersect in London, Seoul, and Shenzhen.

Santamouris is a leading expert in urban climate, sustainability, and environmental science, with a focus on the impacts of climate change in urban environments. He has conducted extensive research on urban heat islands, socio-economic disparities, and green infrastructure in cities around the world, contributing to numerous publications in this field.

Fluorescent roofing materials keep houses cool in summer and warm in winter: study

Choosing the colour of the roof on your home can impact your electricity bills and your comfort as well as the planet at large.

From up in the sky looking down, rooftops are a large part of the 2–3 per cent of the Earth's surface covered by urban areas.

And the way that big built surface absorbs and reflects light and solar radiation from the Sun can affect not only ambient temperatures in our suburbs, but also global warming.

Black roofs barely reflect any light and absorb a lot of solar radiation, meaning they trap a lot of heat during the day — making your house and neighbourhood hotter.