Trading greens for heated surfaces: Land surface temperature and perceived health risk in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Abstract

The unsustainable expansion of cities is generating urban heat islands (UHIs) by exchanging (trading) vegetation cover (green) for built impervious surfaces which is associated with heat-related health risks, globally. This phenomenon is exacerbated by climate change and anthropogenic activities like urban population growth, particularly in African cities. This study explores the spatio-temporal trends of land surface temperature (LST), land use land cover (LULC) and their economic and health risks in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) of Ghana, from 1991 to 2021. We extracted LST/LULC information from Landsat datasets to perform change analysis, alongside an online survey across 56 communities on how LST relates to economic and human health risks perceptions of residents. The results show urbanization of GAMA is trading greens for heated surfaces, impacting communities’ health risks. While the built environment grew (8.6%), the vegetation cover declined (2.5%) and the mean LST rose (0.8⁰C) in 25 years. A 30⁰C LST corresponds to the point of inflexion of exchanging green vegetative cover for heated built surfaces. The forest community of Kisseman, the populous community of Dansoman and the harbour city of Tema corresponded to the first, fourth and fifth LST quintiles, changing at − 0.05⁰C, 0.06⁰C and 0.164⁰C per year. The common health risks include discomfort from heavy sweating, headaches, dehydration, thirst and skin rashes. These results call for climate action and green spatial planning through urban forestry and environmentalism in GAMA. For urban resilience and sustainable cities, we advocate green-cooling multi-purpose housing, roads, and industrial infrastructure.