The Climate Question What's it like being a Chief Heat Officer?
Mar 29, 2026
Soraya Segu, an architect and urban planner who led Monterrey’s heat work, and Eugenia Carbo, Freetown’s Chief Heat Officer who coordinates trees and cooling pilots, join Umaru Fofana, a journalist reporting from Freetown’s informal settlements. They discuss day-to-day heat adaptation, why cities overheat, on-the-ground coping in Krubay, reflective roof pilots, tree counting and barriers like funding and political will.
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Living Outdoors To Escape Tin Shack Heat
- Umaru Fofana describes Crue Bay as a slum of tin shacks where sun and red dust make outdoor life oppressive day and night.
- Residents sleep outside to escape heat despite night-time risks like mosquitoes, malaria and burglary, forcing dangerous trade-offs.
How Urban Form Multiplies Heat
- Eugenia Carbo explains urban heat intensifies where dense buildings block wind and green space is scarce, creating an urban heat island.
- She highlights extreme humidity and air pollution in Freetown, with local readings up to 200 times WHO standards.
Materials Make Pavements Scorching Hot
- Soraya Segu notes Monterrey is car-oriented with cement and asphalt surfaces that can reach much higher apparent temperatures.
- She contrasts shaded asphalt ~39°C with non-shaded surfaces up to ~67°C, making sidewalks unbearable.