Why Western Sydney will be hottest place on earth
Samuel Austin takes us to Western Sydney and explains the planning mistakes that have been made.
Video transcript
- In six months time, this will be the hottest place on Earth. This is Marsden Park located in Western Sydney. No, that is not an exaggeration. Suburbs like Marsden Park have helped create urban heat islands that exceed 50 degrees.
What makes these so hot? Houses. Specifically these brand new identical houses being built across the country. Most of these homes will have black roofs.
They'll have a tiny yard with no space for a tree. Street verges are too small for a mature tree to grow. The roads are black asphalt. And this goes on and on for miles.
These factors combined create areas that can be over 12 degrees hotter than neighboring suburbs. That's right. The color of your roof can increase the heat by 12 degrees. Western Sydney was already the hottest place on Earth three years ago. It will happen again.
