A page 1 story in the Sept. 20 Arizona Republic looks at the results of a study showing that even low-income people with homes are more vulnerable to the heat than their wealthier neighbors.

Scientists, like geographer Darren Ruddell, who earned his doctorate this past May from Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, call this phenomenon the "heat island effect." Ruddell is now a postdoctoral associate in ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability.

"It's an environmental-justice issue. The people who are most vulnerable are also living in the worst conditions. It's a double whammy," says Ruddell in the article written by reporter Shaun McKinnon.

Sharon Harlan, an associate professor in ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change is another researcher who studied 40 neighborhoods in the Phoenix metropolitan area in July 2005.

"Wealth can buy options that let people change their indoor and outdoor environments," says Harlan in the Arizona Republic story.

READ MORE about their research on the ASU Web site at:

Too hot to handle
Project examines urban residents' vulnerability to heat

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