Sam Bloch
@samkbloch.bsky.social
journalist, author of SHADE: THE PROMISE OF A FORGOTTEN NATURAL RESOURCE (2025), samuel.bloch@gmail.com AVAILABLE NOW: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shade-the-promise-of-a-forgotten-natural-resource-samuel-bloch/22014863
Once again, shame on OLIN, Hudson River Park Trust, and everyone else involved in Pier 26 at Hudson River Park, a new waterfront playground that isn’t just hotter than the rest of the neighborhood but basically unusable on days like today, unless you're hiding under the play equipment, in the shade
Great reporting that is unfortunately wrapped up in lots of euphemism to avoid one obvious word: corruption.
Eric Lipton NYT@ericlipton.nytimes.com · 4w agoJUST POSTED: Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...
Terrific @lloydalter.bsky.social column today about 78°F * It’s a metric invented by the air conditioning industry as a limit of effectiveness for their machines * 78°F is not hot and is perfectly comfortable in light clothing * People can tolerate up to 95°F and still feel comfortable
No, 78°F is not communism. It's not even hot.
Those commies at ASHRAE set 78° at the high end of "comfortable." Now, a nation at war can't make the smallest sacrifice to reduce demand or help stabilize the grid.
open.substack.com
Environmental journalist @samkbloch.bsky.social discusses the ways that cities used to be designed for shade, and stresses the urgent need for shelter from the sun — especially for the unhoused, farm workers, and others who labor outdoors. kpfa.org/episode/agai...
In Search of Shade | KPFA
Fossil fuel combustion has made dangerous heat waves ever more frequent. The short term answer — for those who have it — is to turn on the air conditioner. But air conditioning makes the the problem e...
kpfa.org
Important article in @heatmap.news about the risks of chronic and non-extreme heat. 80% of heat deaths in NYC occur on days below 95 degrees — and we have about three weeks more of those days than we did a generation ago heatmap.news/adaptation/h...
This Heat Wave Is Just a Test
Cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto will see more days like this — but the effects of chronic not-so-extreme heat also build up.
heatmap.news
Cars are one of the reasons why cities get so much hotter. An average gasoline car can produce 3.9 MJ of waste heat for *every kilometre* it drives. That’s enough to raise the temperature of a 665 sqft apartment twenty degrees centigrade.
Exhaust Pipes Are Making Heat Waves Much, Much Worse - Streetsblog Massachusetts
The long-term climate impacts of the climate pollution from cars and trucks are well documented, but the daily short-term effects of the wasted heat energy radiating from engine blocks and exhaust pip...
mass.streetsblog.org
Insane story about how L.A. can’t afford to build accessible sidewalks and is instead using those ballot-mandated dollars to surface roads in neighborhoods where there are no sidewalks at all! open.substack.com/pub/lareport...
Cracked
Why did Los Angeles design a street repaving plan that prioritizes Bel Air over Boyle Heights? Not for the reasons you might think.
open.substack.com
Where’s that tweet that says Paris has its own Barton Springs?
Marcel Moran@marcelmoran.com · last mo.Incredible scene at Canal St. Martin
This is why cities need old tenements and rusty awnings. Hard surfaces can reach extreme temperatures when exposed to the sun, while shaded hard surfaces stay dramatically cooler. This is the effect of sun and shade in one image. Hard surfaces absorb and radiate heat, while shade reduces it.
Juraj Mikurcik@jurajmikurcik.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis is why cities need trees. Hard surfaces and parked cars can reach extreme temperatures, while shaded grass and tree-covered areas stay dramatically cooler. This is the urban heat island effect in one image: hard surfaces absorb and radiate heat, while vegetation and shade reduce it.
Respectfully, this image actually shows why cities need shade. You could make this same graphic with a huge building instead of that tree and the temperatures would be even cooler!
Juraj Mikurcik@jurajmikurcik.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis is why cities need trees. Hard surfaces and parked cars can reach extreme temperatures, while shaded grass and tree-covered areas stay dramatically cooler. This is the urban heat island effect in one image: hard surfaces absorb and radiate heat, while vegetation and shade reduce it.
NEW: Palantir has gone on a Democratic lobbyist hiring spree, picking up Hakeem Jeffries' former chief of staff, a top DCCC fundraiser, and a former Democratic senator to push its interests in Washington DC. readsludge.com/2026/06/22/p...
Palantir Goes on a Democratic Lobbyist Hiring Spree
The ICE contractor has hired Hakeem Jeffries' former chief of staff and a former Democratic senator as it builds out a Democratic lobbying operation on Capitol Hill.
readsludge.com
“If I were mayor, my first executive order would be to apply exterior solar shading on all buildings.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
From mobile jungles to shadow art: how Dutch people try to beat the heat
A national heatwave plan has been activated to help people stay cool during the Netherlands’ increasingly hot summers
theguardian.com
“Running through the city’s civic veins is a deep distrust of elected leadership and executive power … They designed a government that put no one in charge by putting everyone in charge.” open.substack.com/pub/lareport...
How to not get things done in LA
Even a strong mayor can't overcome a weak city.
open.substack.com
New from me in @nyc.streetsblog.org: Why did the city design a climate adaptation project that actually made extreme heat even worse? nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/06/18/w...
Tree-Mendous: City Officials Must Do More To Create Shady Conditions As Temps Soar - Streetsblog New York City
In the near future, the city could easily face two months of dangerous heat, every year. Extreme heat is becoming an annual fact of life in New York.
nyc.streetsblog.org
Sam Bloch@samkbloch.bsky.social · 3mo agoShame on @nycparks.bsky.social, Mathews Nielsen, and everyone else involved with designing this new playground at Pier 42 in East River Park, an unshaded plastic monstrosity that’s not just hotter than the rest of the neighborhood but dangerous for everyone on hot days like this
There it is: "Researchers found that three minutes lowered athletes’ core temperature by about 0.72 F during simulated soccer ... This happened in ideal conditions where they drank 350 to 400 milliliters of cold water and draped a cold towel on their shoulders." apnews.com/article/fifa...
FIFA hydration breaks have sparked criticism from different groups. But what do they actually do?
FIFA’s new hydration breaks midway through each half were implemented to help players stay cool in the summer heat of Mexico, Canada and the United States, which some experts have warned could be the ...
apnews.com
Sam Bloch@samkbloch.bsky.social · 2mo agoThese heat regs, like almost every other I'm aware of, reek of non-scientific negotiation and compromise. I'd love to see the study that demonstrates the cooling effects of a three-minute break
If the city is serious about adapting to climate change, it needs to design public spaces not just for the next storm, but also for the next hot day.
Tree-Mendous: City Officials Must Do More To Create Shady Conditions As Temps Soar - Streetsblog New York City
In the near future, the city could easily face two months of dangerous heat, every year. Extreme heat is becoming an annual fact of life in New York.
buff.ly
Why does FIFA insist on afternoon matches in peak heat? TV contracts. 3pm in the US is 8pm in London and 9pm in Paris and Berlin — European primetime. FIFA deliberately assigned the highest-profile matches to align with that schedule yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/06/the-...
The 2026 World Cup could be the hottest yet » Yale Climate Connections
A new analysis finds climate change is increasing the odds of dangerous heat during many 2026 World Cup matches, putting players, fans, and workers at greater risk.
yaleclimateconnections.org
These heat regs, like almost every other I'm aware of, reek of non-scientific negotiation and compromise. I'd love to see the study that demonstrates the cooling effects of a three-minute break
Lyndsey Layton@lyndseylayton.bsky.social · 2mo agoMandatory three-minute cooling breaks. Climate-controlled benches for substitutes and staff at outdoor stadiums. Matches rescheduled to evening hours. It's the Word Cup in the age of climate change. Read it for free here: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/c...
Sickening new study from ASU about data center waste heat * Discharge warm air 14-25 degrees above normal * Equivalent to 40,000 household emissions * Raise air temperature by 4 degrees within five city blocks * Which leads to more AC cranking and more waste heat news.asu.edu/20260518-env...
Turning down the heat from data centers | ASU News
Heat pollution from data centers can boost air temperatures in downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, researchers at Arizona State University report in a new study conducted in the...
news.asu.edu
CPRA’s not dead, long live CPRA. Another great entry in the mayor’s race drama courtesy of the muckrakers at @lamaterial.bsky.social lamaterial.com/p/raman-pass...
Apparently to avoid ADA & #MeasureHLA, L.A. City is now only repaving streets without sidewalks. This means the city is repaving streets in well-off neighborhoods, even many blocks where the pavement is already in good shape & doesn't need to be repaved. la.streetsblog.org/2026/06/04/l...
L.A. City Shifts Repaving Practice (Again), Now Repaving Only Streets With No Sidewalks - Streetsblog Los Angeles
In an apparent attempt to avoid complying with accessibility and multimodal requirements, L.A. City is now repaving streets in well-off suburban neighborhoods. Many of these streets are already in goo...
la.streetsblog.org
He's right to suggest this for New York, one of the few American cities that has narrow streets and enough pedestrians to appreciate the intervention. Would never work in the hot and arid cities where it’s needed most (Phoenix, Las Vegas, L.A., etc.) because of sprawl
Daniel Aldana Cohen@aldasky.bsky.social · 3mo agoFighting heat islands can be beautiful. Here's a street in Granada, Spain. Zohran should do stuff like this all over NYC.
This is the "upstairs" counterpart to parklets, bike lanes, and other livable streets stuff at ground level. Last one: Sevilla, Spain.
“Shade shares the same environmental classification as toxic soil under California law … But as temperatures rise, shade should be recognized as essential infrastructure, something that should be treated similarly to power lines or sewers.” www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/arti...
Shade is good, actually
OPINION: Shade shares the same environmental classification as toxic soil under California law. That was always absurd, but especially so in the age of climate change, Allison Arieff writes.
sfchronicle.com
On Brown University's capitulation to the White House: when the walk doesn't quite match the talk. Absorbing, deeply reported post from alum and Hydra @davidrussellmoore.bsky.social flaminghydra.com/issue-569
University challenge
David Moore on the capitulation of Brown University
flaminghydra.com
New in @hidden-cities.com: Hossam el-Hamalawy @barracks.substack.com on Sisi's vision of turning Egypt into one vast military camp, from the fortified new capital outside Cairo to an entire urban landscape shaped by mass surveillance and control. www.hidden-cities.com/p/how-sisis-...
How Sisi's Militarized Urbanism Is Remaking Egypt
Sisi's regime has securitized public spaces and built mass surveillance into urban planning in a quest to turn Egypt into the “perfect military camp.”
hidden-cities.com
Shame on @nycparks.bsky.social, Mathews Nielsen, and everyone else involved with designing this new playground at Pier 42 in East River Park, an unshaded plastic monstrosity that’s not just hotter than the rest of the neighborhood but dangerous for everyone on hot days like this
“We could have been building the transportation infrastructure of the future if we weren’t wasting it on higher fuel costs associated with a war that Americans mostly don’t want.” Americans have spent more than $40 billion extra on fuel since the start of Trump’s war. www.ft.com/content/32ff...
Iran war hits Americans with $40bn fuel bill
Extra spending on petrol and diesel exceeds cost of repairing country’s bridges or rebooting air traffic control
ft.com
Turning bus stops into micro forests is possible simply by bumping out the curb for in-lane stops. Shade ✅ Shelter ✅ Stormwater capture ✅ Smoother bus ops ✅
“It’s time to take climate intervention strategies more seriously, and rigorously evaluate the risks of these strategies against the risks of failing to intervene.” heatmap.news/am/stardust-...
The World’s First Major Geoengineering Startup Unveils its Technology
On Cleveland’s rejection, Cuba’s energy crisis, and U.S. LNG exports
heatmap.news