Cool cities, local contexts: A typology of cooling interventions across the disciplines to address extreme heat and decarbonization in urban areas

[Geoengineering News]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778826010352

Authors: Melissa A Martin, Benjamin K Sovacool

23 July 2026

Abstract 

Interventions to mitigate and adapt to extreme heat are becoming increasingly necessary at the local scale to contend with the negative health and energy security implications of rising temperatures caused by climate change, the urban heat island effect and urbanization. Interventions across fields have yet to be harmonized, nor have interstitial risks, benefits and implementation challenges been consistently investigated. This study develops a typology of cooling interventions to address extreme heat: lowering temperature, altering buildings, changing behavior, and decarbonizing energy supply. The typology is based on a review of relevant literature covering microclimatology, sustainable buildings, behavioral science and energy systems decarbonization. We develop a categorization of interventions which address increasing temperatures through a mix of climate mitigation, infrastructural resilience, climate adaptation and geoengineering approaches. Increasing temperatures has complex and multi-disciplinary impacts, and the cooling interventions must be intentionally chosen to match this problem with equal nuance, rigor, and efficacy.

Source: ScienceDirect