Synergy of Urban Heat, Pollution, and Social Vulnerability in One of America's Most Rapidly Growing Cities: Houston, We Have a Problem

During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, we analyze the expansion of urban land cover, urban heat island (UHI), and urban pollution island (UPI) in the Houston Metropolitan Area (HMA) using land cover classifications derived from Landsat and land/aerosol products from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Our approach involves both direct utilization and fusion with in situ observations for a comprehensive characterization. We also examined how social vulnerability within the HMA changed during the study period and whether the synergy of UHI, UPI, and social vulnerability enhances environmental inequalities. We found that urban land cover within the HMA increased by 1,345.09 km² and is accompanied by a 171.92 (73.93) % expansion of the daytime (nighttime) UHI. While the UPI experienced an overall reduction in particulate pollution, the magnitude of change is smaller compared to the surroundings. Further, the UPI showed localized enhancement in particulate pollution caused by increases in vehicular traffic. Our analysis found that the social vulnerability of the HMA urban regions increased during the study period. Overall, we found that the urban growth during the first two decades of the twenty-first century resulted in a synergy of UHI, UPI, and social vulnerability, causing an increase in environmental inequalities within the HMA.