Artificial Turf in a Warming Climate
Impacts of artificial turf on the urban heat island effect
Artificial turf is an increasingly popular choice for sports fields and residential yards. This is attributed to its perceived benefits as being maintenance-free, low-cost, and less water-intensive than natural turf.
However, there are many adverse environmental impacts associated with artificial turf, including:
- Microplastics pollution
- Production of greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing
- Loss of biodiversity
Crucially, artificial turf is also associated with high surface temperatures during hot conditions, which can exacerbate the urban heat island effect.
The urban heat island effect is a phenomenon where urban areas are significantly warmer than surrounding areas due to a reduction in natural green spaces and an increase in heat-retaining impervious surfaces.
The urban heat island effect increases the heat-related impacts of climate change, making increased temperatures and hot weather events more severe within urban areas compared with natural ones.
This is already a serious issue in Canberra, where built-up areas have been found to be 8⁰C warmer in summer and 6⁰C warmer in winter than surrounding areas at night.
In response, several ACT Government policies have made mitigating the urban heat island effect a key objective, including the Climate Change Strategy 2019-2025 , Living Infrastructure Plan and Urban Forest Strategy 2020-2045 . Despite this, artificial turf continues to be permitted in our city.
While water is transpired from natural turf and creates a cooling effect, artificial turf traps and retains heat. The high surface temperature of artificial turf compared to natural turf has been documented across multiple contexts.
Heat map showing the temperature difference between synthetic turf Willows Oval (bottom left) and natural grass North Oval (top right). Source: Meyers et al., 2017
In the ACT, a 2017 CSIRO report found that surface temperatures of playing fields using artificial turf were 8-9⁰C hotter than irrigated ovals. For example, the surface temperature of North Oval (an irrigated natural grass oval located at the Australian National University) was measured to reach 32.5⁰C on a sunny day while Willows Oval (a synthetic oval located at the Australian National University across the road) was measured to reach 41.1⁰C in similar conditions.
More recently, a 2022 report published by the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer found that on days with air temperatures reaching mid-30s or higher, surface temperatures of artificial turf can rise up to 38⁰C higher than natural turf, with maximum surface temperatures ranging from the 70s to above 90⁰C.
Heat map showing artificial turf reaching a temperature of 89.2⁰C. Source: Dr Sebastian Pfautsch
These high surface temperatures can surpass that of common impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete in similar conditions, and thus make a significant contribution to the urban heat island effect. The fact that grass and other vegetation is often removed to make way for artificial turf further exacerbates this effect.
In the context of artificial turf in residential yards, the high surface temperatures will radiate heat and increase ambient air temperatures. As a result, the thermal comfort of nearby homes will be reduced, requiring energy in the form of air conditioning or fans to cool down these houses. In the scenario that multiple houses in a suburb were to install artificial turf, this could potentially impact the entire suburb’s microclimate in hot conditions.
