Applications of Geography and Environmental Studies to Understanding Urban Heat Island Effects and Climate Change Impacts on Water and Air Quality in NYC
Friday, November 22, 2024
11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
1021 HN

Speakers:
Professor Jingyu Wang, Hunter College
Professor Geoffrey Fouad, Hunter College

Join Professor Jingyu Wang, Professor Geoffrey Fouad, and GEOG 10100 (Introduction to Geology Lab) students for a special talk on geography as a discipline, majors in the geography and environmental science department, and applications of geography and environmental studies to understanding urban heat island effects and climate change impacts on water and air quality in NYC

ABSTRACT. Due to dry conditions and strong wind, brush fire in Prospect Park brought smoke to New York  City. Meanwhile, wild fires in NJ burned more than a week. Drought in October and November is unusual in NYC region. Wild fire in Canada brought PM 2.5 to NYC in summer 2023, and AQI was 395 on 6/7/23 caused worst air quality in NYC history.

There are more frequent hurricanes and tropical storms hit NYC in recent years. Heavy thunderstorms happened often in summer 2024. Raining for few days during Hurricane Helene. Hurricane Ida hit NYC on 9/1/21, caused flooding in subways, on streets and highways. Majority of NYC’s sewage system is combined sewer. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) discharged untreated sewage and stormwater runoff into NYC waterways during rainstorms. It elevated nutrient and bacteria concentrations, degraded water quality and threatened fish consumption safety.

CSOs water sampling were conducted from 2010 to 2020, and analyzed in CUNY laboratories. Enterococcus, an indicator of human waste, reached the concentration was 65,000 and E.Coli was 60,000 MPN/100ml during heavy rainstorm with 1.44 inch rain on 10/28/15. During tropical storm Arthur with 3 inches of rain on 7/2/14, dissolved oxygen decreased from 4.9 to 2.9 mg/L, and ammonia was 2.725 mg/L, fecal coliform was millions MPN/ppm, and turbidity was 887 FAU. Ammonia concentration was 5.34 mg/L on 5/23/20 (0.13 inch of rain) and was 4.26 mg/L on 10/16/20 (0.41 inch of rain), significantly higher than other rainstorms. It indicated that during lockdown more residents stayed home that had caused increased CSOs and nutrients/bacteria concentrations in the Harlem River.

For questions, please email Professor Jingyu Wang at jwa0015@hunter.cuny.edu