‘Summers used to be hot, but not like this’

NOAH WHITELEATHER IS CEO OF NOAH WHITELEATHER, LLC. HE’S LOST REVENUE DUE TO THE EXTREME HEAT THIS SUMMER, AS GRASS HAS DRIED UP AND EMPLOYEES MUST TAKE MORE BREAKS. The extreme heat disproportionately affects Pittsburgh’s Black residents & by Marcia Liggett For New Pittsburgh Courier The summer weather this year in the Pittsburgh area is—no pun intended—a hot topic. And systemic discrimination has put countless Black Pittsburghers at a greater risk of danger from the extreme heat. Beginning in the 1930s, a practice known as “redlining” created disproportionate financial impacts on mainly Black communities, as funding for purchasing homes was intentionally withheld and little investment in those communities was made. Many Black families still live in low-income, concrete-ridden areas and are still deprived of adequate financial resources. Many of these areas can be classified now as “Urban Heat Islands,” concentrated areas that have less greenery such as grass and trees. Therefore, as temperatures increase with global warming and climate change, these communities, on average, are hotter by 10 to 15 degrees compared to grassy, tree-lined residential neighborhoods one would find in the suburbs. In June 2024, Pittsburghers experienced a week of record-breaking, extreme high temperatures that led to multiple days...