While the presence of film crews in Boston for the filming of "The Departed" might have brought a dose of Hollywood heat eastward, the high profile project wasn't the only thing heating up Beantown.
A report from a Massachusetts-based environmental advocacy group states that the commonwealth experienced higher-than-normal temperatures in 2006 and that those increases are due to global warming.
Readings averaged 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal at Logan International Airport and 3.1 degrees above normal at Worcester Regional Airport as examples of the 2006's anomalous weather.
The high temperatures are not exclusive to Massachusetts. The report cited increases in average temperature of at least 0.5 degrees at 87 percent of the locations studied.
Ann Rappaport, a lecturer in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Department, elaborated on some of the problems that rising temperatures could spark in Massachusetts.
"In the short term, residents will face higher costs for summer air-conditioning and higher levels of local and regional air pollution as more fossil fuel is burned for electricity," Rappaport said in an email to the Daily.
"When higher temperatures occur during the summer one immediate problem is that people use more air conditioning," Rappaport said. "Because the vast majority of our electricity is generated with fossil fuel ... we create more climate altering gas emissions when we try to stay cool, and we create more local and regional air pollution."
The lecturer also stressed the importance of working to combat climate change, explaining that even a slight rise or fall in temperature can have a major impact.
"With respect to climate, just a few degrees in global average temperature can make a significant difference," Rappaport said. "The increases in global average temperature that we are experiencing are associated with increased extreme weather events, changes in precipitation patterns, increased ocean temperatures, and sea level rise."
Rappaport also said that surface water supply shortages could occur if there is less annual precipitation, especially if snowfall is reduced. While Boston's harsh winters cause their own share of problems, melting snows are a major source of water for the region.
Brian Glascock, Director of the City of Boston Environment Department, said that higher temperatures cause health issues, especially in vulnerable populations.
"Those higher than average temperatures hit the elderly, children ... people with compromised cardiovascular systems ... harder," Glascock said.
Glascock added that in cities like Boston, the hot weather tends to be self-reinforcing. The lack of shade-providing greenery and the prevalence of heat-absorbing surfaces like asphalt and concrete can cause a "gradual ratcheting up of ambient temperatures," Glascock said, a phenomenon known as the "urban heat island effect."
In recognition of these problems, the City of Boston has been trying to find ways of reducing the heat island effect, Glascock said. Reduced energy consumption, more green spaces, and heat-reflecting roofs are just some of the strategies being used to turn down the heat.
And those efforts have traveled the four miles from the Boston city limits to Tufts' Medford campus.
Sarah Hammond Creighton, the program director for Tufts Office of Sustainability, said the university is making an effort to reduce greenhouse emissions. Creighton said that the Office of Sustainability works to "encourage members of the Tufts community to save energy" by doing things like monitoring energy usage, making sure that appliances are switched off when not in use, and recycling.
Glascock also has some energy-saving tips for college students going to school in the Boston area.
"Don't bring your car to Boston as a student," Glascock said. "You're not going to need it."
Glascock also said that during "turnover week," when college students move out, many students simply leave unwanted items from their houses or dorms to be thrown away, rather than recycling or donating them.
Programs like Jumbo Drop aim to reduce that waste. Discarded items are collected in the spring and resold at low cost to students in the fall, thus reducing waste on both ends as students do not need to buy new items.
"Get that stuff donated somewhere," Glascock said. "Because if you just put it out on the curb, it's going to the landfill."
