A reminder, through the present and coming heat waves, of how much heat is added to our cities by cars burning gasoline. A few years ago, I did the math with a unit I developed, the Patio Heater Equivalent (PHE) and calculated that the daily traffic in Manhattan was the equivalent of firing up 157,336 patio heaters.

“Given the amount of asphalt they need for moving and parking—all of which contribute to the heat island effect, and much of which could be used to plant trees—perhaps we should just get rid of most of the cars if we are serious about cooling our cities and reducing both heat and carbon emissions.”

treehugger.com/cars-add…