Ylenia Aguilar raised her sons in Arizona, so they香蕉视频直播檙e no strangers to scorching heat.

She remembers 香蕉视频直播渟eeing soccer kids and my own children pass out and faint from, you know, heat-related illnesses,香蕉视频直播� she said. 香蕉视频直播淚t was seeing my sons dehydrated.香蕉视频直播�

Schools across the U.S. are carpeted in heat-absorbing asphalt and lack shade. The buildings were often made with materials that radiated heat into indoor spaces. Kids are more vulnerable to heat illness than adults, and extreme temperatures affect learning, performance and concentration. Heat-related school closures are becoming more frequent.

The burden of extreme heat is not felt equally. Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color can be as much as 7 F (3.9 C) hotter than richer and whiter neighborhoods.

Yet there are well-known ways to cool down schools and neighborhoods.

Cool ground surfaces

In 2022, students at a school near Atlanta pointed thermometers onto their basketball court and got a reading of 105 F (about 40.5 C). A roofing manufacturer donated a solar-reflective coating and helped them paint it on. They took another reading. This time it was 95 F (35 C).

Paved surfaces get really hot in the sun. They absorb solar energy and slowly re-radiate it out as heat, increasing air temperatures by as much as 7 F (3.9 C).

Cooling playgrounds and roads by making them more reflective is not new, but interest has been growing along with more understanding of the way the accumulation can affect neighborhoods, known as urban heat islands, said Daniel Metzger, a fellow at Columbia Law School.

The Science, Arts and Entrepreneurship School recently had that same cool surface painted on their parking lot. Both times, the coatings and labor were donated. Without that, the school would have had to raise funds, said Scott Starowicz, the school香蕉视频直播檚 co-founder and chief financial officer.

Cool roofs and window films

East of Los Angeles, roofs across the Chaffey Joint Union High School District once reached 140 F (60 C). Warm roofs mean upper-floor classrooms could get hot, which would affect a lot of Chaffey香蕉视频直播檚 students, nearly 65% of who are Latino or Hispanic.

Chaffey has spent $11.4 million in bond money and maintenance funds to convert asphalt shingle roofs to white cool roofing since 2017.

These roofs 香蕉视频直播� as well as window films, paints and other technologies 香蕉视频直播� reflect part of the incoming solar radiation away from a building, rather than allowing it to transfer inside as heat. These are some of the easiest and least costly actions a district can take.

Experts agree cool roofing lowers indoor temperature and reduces the need for AC.

The district has also invested in steel shade structures, trees and temperature devices to monitor heat stress.

Cooler, greener schoolyards

On hot days, Sharon Gamson Danks remembers seeing her kids and their peers sitting in the shade along the edges of their school building.

More schools are tearing out hot asphalt, turf or rubber mats in favor of grass, gardens, mulch or trees. Experts say trees are one of the best ways to cool things down.

At Parkway Elementary in Sacramento, trees replaced turf this summer thanks to a grant. The project is part of a California schoolyard forests effort to increase tree canopy in public schools, especially in underserved communities.

Paying for the needed changes

For the hottest schools, these solutions are often out of reach.

Federal agencies offer grants, but they often don香蕉视频直播檛 cover the full cost, and schools sometimes don香蕉视频直播檛 have the staff to apply for and manage grants. Increased maintenance costs are also a concern.

Relying on grant money 香蕉视频直播渃an completely exacerbate the haves and the have-nots香蕉视频直播� when it comes to reducing climate change and adapting to its harms, said UCLA professor V. Kelly Turner.

Many believe schools shouldn香蕉视频直播檛 be left on their own. Every individual solution makes a difference, said Greg Kats of the Smart Surfaces Coalition. But combining efforts with a local government or neighborhood means schools can be even more comfortable, he said.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 just sort of integration, right, of different strategies over a larger geographic area,香蕉视频直播� he added. 香蕉视频直播淵ou香蕉视频直播檙e really sort of transforming the school environment.香蕉视频直播�

In Phoenix, Aguilar香蕉视频直播檚 efforts improved Osborn Elementary District, but the work is ongoing. It recently got money to plant more trees and add more shade.

Aguilar understood that it would only get hotter, she said. 香蕉视频直播淚 knew that we needed to take action.香蕉视频直播�

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The Associated Press香蕉视频直播� climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP香蕉视频直播檚 standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP香蕉视频直播檚 environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.

Alexa St. John And Dorany Pineda, The Associated Press