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What is the Economic Cost of Urban Heat in Dallas?

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What is the Economic Cost of Urban Heat in Dallas?


When the inevitable heatwaves arrive in Dallas, community discussions around the need to mitigate our urban heat island effect and expand our tree canopy coverage arrive with it. For good reason too, whether it’s studies such as the EPA’s 2017 urban heat island study for Dallas, the city’s 2020 Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan or the 2021 Urban Forestry Plan, all signs point toward the importance of expanding tree coverage to not only reduce ambient air temperatures in Dallas but also improve the general well-being of our residents.

The discussion around urban heat generally revolves around public health. However, it also impacts other critical urbanism issues in Dallas such as walkability, bikeability, our ability to recreate and our attractiveness to new residents and businesses. Our team at AECOM worked with The Nature Conservancy in Phoenix to expand our conversation around the economic impacts of urban heat, allowing us to articulate some of its negative impacts in dollar values in addition to environmental or public health indicators.  

Steven Duong, principal of AECOM’s Urbanism + Planning practice

While not exactly the same, there are enough similarities between the Phoenix metro and Dallas metro areas that many of our findings and lessons learned are translatable.  Our goal was to estimate the economic consequences to the Phoenix metro from failing to take action against extreme heat while evaluating the costs and benefits of solutions designed to address these issues such as implementation of cool roofs and expanding the urban tree canopy.  To do this, projected climate conditions were compared to baseline conditions in the Phoenix metro to estimate how the cost of inaction would impact the Dallas metro based on five indicators of human and economic well-being: mortality, morbidity, labor productivity, infrastructure and critical services with a focus on energy demand.  

After quantifying the cost of inaction for both metros, solutions selected for their importance and viability in the region were evaluated using benefit-cost analysis.

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Our team found that in the Phoenix metro, key strategies such as expanding urban tree canopy coverage to 25% (Dallas is currently at 32%, according to Texas Trees Foundation), could have a cost-benefit ratio of 3.78, which is to say that for every dollar spent on expanding canopy coverage, the Phoenix metro would reap $3.78 worth of benefit. This is an enormous benefit that is likely similar in the Dallas region and underscores how dealing with an urban “heat island” here may not only make public health sense but also financial sense. The potential cost-benefit ratio of a strategy like “cool roofs” is even greater, with a ratio potential of over 5.0 in the Phoenix region, emphasizing the potential financial argument for incorporating more sustainable design into our buildings and roofs.  

Benefit-Cost Analysis Results for Solution Scenarios Analyzed

Solution Scenario Benefits Costs Benefit-Cost Ratio
100% Cool Roofs $7.9B $1.5B 5.24
25% Urban Tree Canopy $15.3B $4B 3.78
Note: Shown in $2021 over the period of analysis (2020-2019) with a 5% discount rate. Figures are rounded. Note that the benefits quantified in this analysis are limited to the five indicators included in the cost of inaction, and do not include other potential benefits that these solutions might offer–such as aesthetic benefits, air quality improvements, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, or reduced stormwater runoff.

There are many other tangential benefits of these solutions that are difficult to quantify financially, such as air quality improvement or increased non-single occupancy vehicle usage that would only serve to make the cost-benefit ratio even greater than what we’ve studied so far. It is very easy for us to wave our hands in Dallas and say that the solutions required to improve our communities are too expensive to implement and that the benefit may not outweigh the cost.  However, our findings indicate there is a legitimate economic case to be had with investing more significantly in mitigation of urban heat in addition to our policy and societal goals.


Steven Duong is a principal and oversees the Urbanism + Planning practice for AECOM in the western United States.





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Dallas, TX

New York Giants Fall to Dallas Cowboys, 27-20 on Thanksgiving

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New York Giants Fall to Dallas Cowboys, 27-20 on Thanksgiving


The New York Giants’ dreadful 2024 season continued with a 27-20 to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. It was the Giants’ seventh-straight loss this season and their eighth-consecutive defeat at the hands of the Cowboys, dating back to the 2020 season.

The Cowboys benefitted from two Giants turnovers, including a pick-6 by DeMarvion Overshown in the second quarter he returned 23 yards to give the Cowboys a 13-7 lead, the Cowboys at that point never relinquishing the lead.

The other came following a Giants fumble in the second half, which the Cowboys converted into another touchdown to cap a six-play scoring drive. 

The game started well, as the Giants held the Cowboys to just a field goal after their first possession. The Giants offense took the field with Drew Lock under center for the injured Tommy DeVito. 

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Lock was under pressure practically half the game, the Cowboys hitting him 14 times and sacking him six. The Giants also had just as many penalties in this game (13) as they did first downs (17), and their defense once again couldn’t stop the run if they tried, with missed tackles–at least 10 of them in the first half alone–an ongoing problem.

Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle captured his first career 100+ yard rushing game, going for 112 yards and one touchdown against the Giants, who saw three defensive linemen–D.J. Davidson (shoulder), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (stinger) and Dexter Lawrence II (elbow)–leave the game with injuries.  

Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush finished 21 of 36 for 195 yards and one touchdown, his leading receiver being tight end Luke Schoonmaker (five catches on six pass targets).

Lock and running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. scored the Giants’ two touchdowns, TRacy’s coming on a 1-yard run on the Giants’ opening drive to give them their first lead in a game since Week 6, and then Lock scoring a fourth-quarter garbage time touchdown on an 8-yard rush to make it 27-20 with 2:18 left.

The Giants got the rest of their scoring from kicker Graham Gano, who hit field goals of 46 and 47 yards. 

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Giants receiver Malik Nabers caught 13 pass targets for 69 yards, but he also dropped two balls. Rookie tight end Theo Johnson displayed toughness on a few of his receptions, hauling in five catches for 54 yards.

This is the Giants’ ninth time in the last 11 seasons that they’ve lost at least ten games. This loss eliminated them from playoff contention and currently slots them into the No.1 pick in April’s draft. 

The Giants will have 10 days to prepare for their next matchup, a home meeting with the New Orleans Saints. They’re now the only team in the NFL to win a game at home still not this season, and they currently have the league’s longest losing streak.

Tom Brady Criticizes Daniel Jones for How He Handled Final Days with Giants . dark. Next. Brady Criticizes Daniel Jones



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Sources: Giants’ DeVito expected out vs. Dallas

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Sources: Giants’ DeVito expected out vs. Dallas


New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito is expected to be out for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys because of his forearm injury and Drew Lock is expected to start in his place, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jordan Raanan.

DeVito is listed as questionable for the Thanksgiving Day game, but a source told ESPN on Wednesday that DeVito was considered a long shot to play.

He did not travel with the team to Dallas on Wednesday as he was undergoing further evaluation, the Giants said. The team, however, said it expected him to travel to Dallas later Wednesday.

DeVito took several big hits in Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was making his first start of the season after the Giants released former starter Daniel Jones late last week.

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The Giants turn to Lock after bypassing him following the benching of Jones for DeVito. Lock spent the first 10 weeks as the backup, with DeVito as the third string/emergency quarterback.

Lock has a short week and no real practices to get ready for the matchup of NFC East rivals. He also will be playing behind an offensive line without its starting tackles. Andrew Thomas (foot) is on injured reserve and Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) was ruled out Wednesday.



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Colorado visits Dallas after shootout victory

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Colorado visits Dallas after shootout victory


Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche (13-10, in the Central Division) vs. Dallas Stars (13-8, in the Central Division)

Dallas; Friday, 9 p.m. EST

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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Stars -140, Avalanche +116; over/under is 6.5

BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche after the Avalanche took down the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a shootout.

Dallas is 13-8 overall and 4-2-0 against the Central Division. The Stars have a 4-2-0 record in games they score at least one power-play goal.

Colorado is 13-10 overall and 2-3-0 against the Central Division. The Avalanche have a 2-5-0 record in games their opponents serve fewer penalty minutes.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

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TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Duchene has 12 goals and 14 assists for the Stars. Mason Marchment has five goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.

Cale Makar has eight goals and 22 assists for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen has eight goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and 8.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

Avalanche: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, 4.8 assists, 2.6 penalties and 5.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

INJURIES: Stars: None listed.

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Avalanche: None listed.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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