Rhode Island is the smallest, yet most urbanized state in the nation. The state contains 139 square miles of impervious surfaces, amounting to 13 percent of its land area, according to a 2022 study. These surfaces form an “intricate network of interactions and conditions such as elevated surface and air temperatures,” according to the study.

People living in these densely populated urban areas face higher temperatures than those in more leafy locations, and the phenomenon is exacerbated as the climate heats up. Scientists and advocates use the term “heat island” to describe an area that experiences many more days of extreme temperatures than those mere miles away.

Across Rhode Island, advocacy groups are planting trees, turning parking lots into community gardens, offering cooling centers like the one at Emmanuel House, and advocating for utility justice so everyone has air conditioning and running water during heat waves. Their efforts often focus on the state’s densely populated urban areas, including Providence’s Silver Lake, Elmwood, and West End neighborhoods with population densities of 14,987, 15,793, and 17,245 per square mile respectively. In comparison, the city’s Blackstone neighborhood has a density of just 4,986 people per square mile.

Advocates said that “greening” neighborhoods by pursuing both on-the-ground actions and policy change will help keep them cooler as the planet warms.

Often this literally means dirty work. “It’s very tangible,” said Amelia Rose, executive director of Groundwork RI, which creates community gardens, offers summer jobs to Providence youth, and advocates for compost initiatives statewide. The organization’s work is “not just advocacy or going to the State House and lobbying for a bill,” Rose said. Those actions are critical, too, she said, but getting plants into the ground allows residents to see visible, immediate results.

“Healthy Neighborhoods,” one of Groundwork’s initiatives in Providence, promotes greenspaces as a way to promote healthier communities. Rose’s projects have reclaimed parking lots and used the space to create community gardens. The organization now owns and cares for a total land area of about a half-acre throughout Providence, including two residential housing-size lots. Other endeavors included the launch of its urban farm and greenhouse in 2015. Groundwork is leading an effort to create a composting hub in the West End, and organizing tree plants in an effort to increase green infrastructure.

“It’s a community pride type of thing. It changes the way people view their neighborhood,” Rose said.

Not only are higher temperatures less comfortable, people’s health suffers. People living in heat islands are often impoverished, and as a result they tend to have higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. This makes them more vulnerable to heat stress than those living in greener, and therefore cooler, neighborhoods.

Marzullo said he has noticed that as temperatures rise, Emmanuel House residents experience visibly deteriorating health. “It’s very dangerous for some of my clients. The older clients, especially the clients that have breathing problems. … I see them coming in here, they’re beet red and purple,” he said.

Cassie Tharinger of the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program holds monthly tree-planting parties in Providence. The program focuses its efforts on the most vulnerable communities: densely built areas that experience eight to 10 days above 90 degrees every year. Elsewhere, near the coast, temperatures reach 90 degrees only about once a year, at the peak of summer heat, according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

While some of this temperature difference stems from ocean breezes, urban heat islands endure disproportionately higher temperatures because of their built-up environments. Concrete and other common construction materials do not reflect light well; they absorb more heat and foster hot microclimates, according to a study in the International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis.

The Environmental Protection Agency defines heat islands as urbanized areas with structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructure which absorb more sun than natural landscapes. These surfaces re-emit that heat, increasing daytime temperatures so that these neighborhoods reach average temperatures that are about 1 to 7 degrees higher than those in outlying areas.

It’s important to employ a wide array of methods, said Jessica Wilson, design planner for the city of Lowell, Mass. Her office advocates for policies, plants trees, and designs parks for the city.

“Confronting environmental injustices means both on-the-ground work like planting trees, but also advocating for policy changes,” Wilson said.

“All the tree planting in the world, as much as that provides shade and a million benefits, on the hottest day of the year, that’s not enough,” she added.

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High density means more buildings, more traffic, and more concrete. One area in Providence’s South Side has a 47 percent poverty rate and just a 6 percent canopy rate — the lowest percentage of canopy cover in all of Providence, according to the Tree Equity Score, which measures levels of tree canopy coverage in cities nationwide.

Neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and more people of color are also the neighborhoods with the least tree canopy. This lower income demographic is also at high-risk for health risks from extreme heat, according to the state Department of Health.

Environmental justice advocates, furious with the disproportionate impacts of urban heat islands on Rhode Island residents of color, pressed the state to protect residents from utility shut-offs during heat waves. In 2007, the state passed the nation’s first summer utility shut-off moratorium. When the state temperature average reaches 90 degrees, no households in the state can have their air conditioning, running water, or gas terminated by utilities.

While advocates have welcomed this step, the policy is “flawed,” said Camilo Viveiros, director of the George Wiley Center, a labor union that organizes for “utility justice.” Temperatures vary greatly statewide, and temperatures in urban heat islands are well above the 90 degree threshold even when the state average is well below it. Given the conditions of the policy and the varying conditions statewide, the moratorium rarely goes into effect.

Raffini, the youth program director for the Southside Community Land Trust, who only uses her first name, has lived in the South Side of Providence for most of her life, in a neighborhood that includes the most prominent heat islands in Providence.

Raffini said the ideal South Side neighborhood would provide safety, gardens, green space, and summer jobs for young people — including in community gardens. Central to the Southside Community Land Trust’s mission is integrating racial justice work with their hands-on gardening practices.

Any urban greening projects need to go hand-in-hand with education that links racial history with the importance of environmentalism. Not everyone is going to do this sort of work, Raffini said, but she encourages everyone to notice its value.

“I don’t want you to walk a mile in my shoes. I want you to stand in my garden,” she said.

Maya Kelly is a freshman at Brown University studying Urban Studies.

PROVIDENCE – Patricia Serpa, the longtime state lawmaker carrying the banner this year for the legion of retirees who want their annual pension increases back, tells of the advice her father gave her when she was just starting her teaching career.

In 1970, he advised her to turn down a teaching job offer that paid more and instead to take a job with a school district that might pay less in salary, but paid into Social Security on its employees’ behalf.

The 70-something Serpa calls it one of the best pieces of advice her father ever gave her because, unlike thousands of other retired teachers in Rhode Island who worked in school districts that did not pay into Social Security, she has a cushion.

She gets $3,182 a month from her state pension, roughly $2,000 a month from her late husband’s pension as a retired Providence firefighter, plus Social Security, which pays “more than my pension.”

While it is too late to secure Social Security for today’s out-of-luck retirees, Serpa, D-West Warwick, on Thursday appeared before the House Finance Committee to pitch her bill to require that all public school teachers hired starting July 1, 2024, participate in Social Security.

Retired public school teachers without Social Security

Social Security is financed through a dedicated payroll tax. Employers and employees each pay 6.2% of wages up to the taxable maximum ($168,600 in 2024), while the self-employed pay 12.4%.

Enrolling new teachers in Social Security may not be easily done, quickly, for legal and political reasons, but as Serpa noted, many of today’s retirees worked in municipalities where neither they nor their employeers contributed to Social Security. The list includes:

Barrington (teachers); Bristol (teachers and police); Burrillville (teachers, Harrisville and Pascoag fire); Central Falls (teachers, police and fire); Coventry (teachers and fire); Cranston (teachers, police and fire); Cumberland (teachers and fire); East Greenwich (teachers and fire); East Providence (teachers); Foster-Glocester (teachers); Hopkinton (Hope Valley, Wyoming fire, Hopkinton police); and Johnston (teachers).

James Parisi, the lobbyist for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, said initial research indicates the legislature cannot mandate Social Security for new hires only, “but there are other ways to do it.

“Maybe the General Assembly can mandate all the non-Social Security districts to reconsider it. Maybe you can require everyone to be in, but allow people to opt out, which we think makes some sense … [for] a long-term teacher” who’d get little benefit.

The potential political obstacle? “We raised this issue when Gina Raimondo was talking about pensions in 2011, and no one wanted to touch it,” Parisi said.

“This is their turn”

Before the hours-long, multi-bill hearing was over, a spokesman for state General Treasurer James Diossa conveyed support – perhaps for the first time – for legislation that would provide Rhode Island’s retired teachers and state workers with a one-time “stipend” equal to 3% of their pension or $40,000, whichever is less.

Diossa spokesman Rob Craven said the treasurer supports this bill over others because the money for it would come from the state’s General Fund, not the pension fund.

Serpa laid the groundnwork for a hearing – on another day – on her newly filed – and very different – bill to provide retired state workers and teachers with a 3% “cost-of-living adjustment” aka COLA on their base pension in the budget year beginning July 1, and uncapped future increases in keeping with the Consumer Price Index.

While her bill came in too late to make Thursday’s House Finance meeting, the long agenda gave legislators and other advocates for retired and active public employees an hours-long opportunity to argue for various ways to reverse the cost-cutting moves that then-state Treas. Gina Raimondo urged – and state lawmakers, including Serpa – approved in 2011 to rein in the skyrocketing pension tab.

The cost cut that haunts today’s lawmakers most: the suspension of the annual COLAs that once paid up to 3% compounded annually to those who were once allowed to retire at any age after 28 years on the job.

Lawmakers placed some curbs on those offerings in the years leading up to the dramatic 2011 overhaul, but not enough to avert huge cost increases. The overhaul saved taxpayers an estimated $3 billion, but retirees say they took the hardest hit.

“This is the year to help the retirees. This is their turn,” Serpa said. “It’s not hyperbole, but I’ve heard of some retired teachers, some who’ve never paid into Social Security, some who don’t have the benefit of a husband’s pension or Social Security who are borderline homeless.”

“A couple of teachers I’ve heard from are eligible for food stamps. That’s sinful,” she said, making a case for taking an initial $30 million out of the $11-billion pension fund, and more later, as required, to give the retirees annual pension boosts.

Other bills concerning retirees in RI

The Rhode Island chapter of the AARP put its weight behind a bill seeking the total repeal of state income taxes on Social Security.

AARP Director Catherine Taylor made this pitch: “More than one in five Rhode Island residents – 230,018 people – receives Social Security benefits. Annual Social Security benefits to Rhode Islanders pump at least $4 billion into the state economy.”

In fall of 2023,” she said AARP RI surveyed 700 Rhode Islanders age 45. “When asked, the majority (89%) of residents say they agree that ‘Rhode Island lawmakers should repeal the state tax on Social Security.’ This sentiment is consistent regardless of age, gender or political party.”

“Over half (55%) of Rhode Island adults believe Social Security will be a major part of or their only source of their retirement income.”

Out of the 29% of Rhode Island residents age 45+ who have considered living in another state for retirement, or are still unsure about it, nearly three in five say they are more likely to stay in Rhode Island if the Social Security income tax is eliminated. In addition, the majority of Rhode Island adults age 45+ say it is extremely or very important to have adequate Social Security benefits available in the future (91%).

May Day! May Day! Sorry, no emergency. I’m just excited for May. Yup, cue the Justin Timberlake memes. It’s gonna be May and we’ve got 20,000 rubber ducks, tight-rope walkers, trolls, guacamole and more.

Let’s ride, friends.

THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey rolls into PVD. Expect six shows from April 26-28 at the AMP. Some 75 performers hailing from 18 countries will put on a show that includes, according to a press release: stunts like “The Triangular Highwire” and “Double Wheel of Destiny,” comedic performances, “a modern take on clowning,” juggling, acrobatics, and dancing. Plus a skate park where BMX riders perform stunts, and trapeze artists, aerialists, music and more. 1 LaSalle Square. Tickets from $20. Details here.

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY RETURNS

Beep beep beep! You know summer is returning to Rhody when the food trucks migrate back to Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village. It’s #FoodTruckFriday season: From April 26 through Sept. 27 — weather permitting — some 15 local food trucks park at Roger Williams Park at 5 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket and soak up live tunes from local artists, jump on the carousel, hop the train ride. Free admission; pay for what you eat. 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. Details here.

SOCCER IN RHODE ISLAND

The Ocean State now has a pro men’s soccer team, Rhode Island FC, and you can get your Ted Lasso on this week. According to the Globe, they play in the USL Championship league, the second tier of American men’s soccer, a notch below Major League Soccer. There are a number of ways you can buy tickets, from “Beer 2-pack” to “single match” or “mini plans.” This week’s game is April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Smithfield against Phoenix Rising FC. Ticket prices vary. At Beirne Stadium at Bryant University. 1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield. Read more here. Details here.

20,000 RUBBER DUCKS

It’s time for one of the most whimsical of Rhody traditions: the 24th Annual Pawcatuck River Duck Race. Watch 20,000 rubber ducks race the Pawcatuck River in Westerly on April 27 to benefit dozens of local charities. This full-on spectacle is free to watch — plus there are children’s games, rides, food booths, bounce house, and other activities. The event typically raises some $60,000 for groups involved, according to the event’s website. Plus: 90 prizes are up for grabs, including a trip to Disney World. The fun starts at 11:30 a.m., with a corporate race at 1 p.m., and the main race at 1:30 p.m. Downtown Westerly on the Westerly/Pawcatuck, Connecticut line. Details here and here.

EARTH WEEK

Earth Day truly is every day. Aquidneck Island is celebrating all week. Upcoming Aquidneck Island Earth Week events include:

• Albro Woods Work Party April 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Nearly all the beech trees in Albro Woods are infected by beech leaf disease and large sections of the forest canopy are at risk,” according to billing. Volunteers are invited to lend a hand in removing invasive species and planting new trees. Afterward, everyone is invited to enjoy a potluck meal.” 125 Mitchell’s Lane #41, Portsmouth. Free. Details here.
• Help with an “Easton’s Beach Clean-Up & TrashBlitz” April 27 from 1-3 p.m. at Easton’s Beach. 175 Memorial Boulevard, Newport. Details here.
• Take time to notice birds on a free bird hike April 28 at the Norman Bird Sanctuary, 8-10 a.m. 583 3rd Beach Road, Middletown. Details here.
• Bonus for the 21+ set: Newport Vineyards, in honor of Aquidneck Island Earth Week, offers a free wine or beer flight to folks to help clean up. Participants are asked to pick up a bag or bucket of trash at their choice of location and take a photo. When they arrive at the event, they can enjoy a free tasting. Through April 27 during operating hours. Must present ID to show proof of 21+. Details here.
• Bonus for all ages: Scavenger BioBlitz is on — bring your BioBlitz scavenger hunt sheet to the Norman Bird Sanctuary for free admission for the whole fam through April 27 — and Earth Week Bingo encourages kids “to take environmental actions around their homes. There’s a sweet treat for kids who make five environmental actions in a row,” according to billing.

TAYLOR SWIFT DANCING FOR PUPPIES

A Westerly woman dropped a new album that broke Spotify this week (though she needs a grammar check on that title) And yes, there’s a Taylor event in Rhody: “Tailored for Tails: A Swift Promenade” is a night of human dancing to benefit the East Greenwich Animal Protection League. Billed as “an enchanting adult prom,” Swifties can dance the night away and enjoy a buffet. Dress to impress in “elegant attire” or “favorite Swiftie concert wear.” $60. April 28, 6-10 p.m. at the Event Factory, 144 Metro Center Blvd., Warwick.

CURL UP

I don’t know what intrigues me more: The shoes? The brooms? I vow every Winter Olympics to learn this sport. The Ocean State Curling Club hosts a “Learn to Curl” session April 28, 2:15-4:15 p.m. at Smithfield Municipal Ice Rink. Must register. $45. 109 Pleasant View Ave. Details here.

TROLLS! TROLLS!

I have been waiting a year for this. Recycle artist/activist Thomas Dambo, who makes giant trolls from recycled wood all over the world, is bringing his trolls to Charlestown’s Ninigret Park. Dambo takes stage April 30 at 7 p.m. at the United Theatre to talk about his life in Denmark, larger-than-life trolls — and to inspire you to think about trash and recycling differently. Stay tuned for my exclusive interview with the fascinating Dambo. 5 Canal St., Westerly. $5. Details here.

HOLY GUACAMOLE

Who makes the best guac around? Avocado fans, get to Providence Brewing Company May 1 for a “Wicked Best Guacamole Showcase and Tasting.” Local restaurants will also throw down in a “friendly competition.” Bonus: first 100 Early Bird passes get a free beer, according to billing. 10 Sims Ave. #Unit 110, Providence. From $15. Details here.

PARTY IN THE BALLROOM

FirstWorks — a Providence-based nonprofit with a mission “to enrich the social, educational and economic fabric of Rhode Island by engaging diverse audiences with world-class performing arts experiences” — is turning 20 and you’re invited to the party.

Head to the Ballroom at the Providence G on May 2. Your $75 supports FirstWorks programs in Rhode Island, according to the website. Expect to “mix and mingle with fellow supporters and friends” with “drinks and small bites.” On the evening’s docket: two “sets” from dancers Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, steel pan and vocals by Becky Bass; Sidy Maiga with DJ Brazao, and raffle. 100 Dorrance St., Providence. Learn more about the artists here, here and here. Event details, FirstWorks details and artist videos here.

PAINTING BIRDS

When I interviewed an Audubon educator/artist this week about the power of noticing — and drawing — birds, Clare Walker Leslie told me: “Once you become aware, you care.” An advocate for nature journaling and drawing, Leslie had me reaching for my sketchbook. With that vibe in mind, head to Rhode Island Audubon’s Maxwell Mays Art Studio for “Watercolor From Nature 101.”

The first session on May includes experimenting with brushes, paper and paint to create a landscape with birds. In the second session on June 7, you’ll learn color theory and drawing basics. No experience necessary, all materials provided. Meet in the parking lot. Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge, 2082 Victory Highway, Coventry. Last day to register May 2. $125/non-members, $100 for members. Details here.

RHODE READS

As a Rhody book lover, I started this subsection because every week, there are great Rhode Island author and book events. In this week’s book news…

April 27 is National Independent Bookstore Day and women-owned Ink Fish books in Warren hosts its 6th Indie Bookstore Day Party. Expect free books, raffles, including a signed-copy giveaway of Jamie Brenner’s “A Novel Summer,” and two talented local authors:

Did you love Rhody’s own New York Times bestselling author Jessa Maxwell’s hit “The Golden Spoon”? Same. If you haven’t read it yet, the book — which earned raves — was billed by its publisher as “Only Murders in the Building” meets “The Maid” and that’s accurate. Maxwell, of Jamestown, will be on hand for the party, along with an Empanada Assassin pop-up from noon to 5 p.m.

Plus, Rhody native author Christa Carmen signs copies of her gothic novel “The Daughters of Block Island,” from 1-3 p.m. according to Ink Fish. 488 Main St., Warren. Details here.

For my picks on other Rhode Island indie bookstores, see here.

Until next week, Rhody: Keep rockin.’

Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1.