Climate Connections: Too Hot for Turf!
Susan Teitelman
The City of Missoula is currently evaluating the option of allowing Big Sky Professional Baseball to replace the existing grass field with artificial turf at city-owned Ogren Park. Concerns from residents have prompted City Council to consider whether to adopt a policy regarding artificial turf on city property. Given what we know about its impacts, it appears that allowing large turf fields contradicts local health, safety and climate goals.
Some of the concerns about artificial turf, which is sometimes referred to as synthetic turf, are better-known: high upfront costs of installation; waste associated with the need for regular replacement; and the harmful materials found in its composition. Artificial turf is made from mixed plastics, which contain microplastics and toxic chemicals like phthalates and PFAS. These chemicals, which are detrimental to both human health and the natural environment, leach into surrounding land, air, and water. As Ogren Park is situated so close to the Clark Fork River, we’re particularly worried about the contamination of our beloved waterway.
Another impact of turf is especially concerning: heat. It has been well documented that artificial turf gets much hotter than grass – even in relatively moderate outdoor temperatures. In a community like Missoula, where we’re already experiencing an increase in days above 90 degrees (over 3 weeks straight last year), heat is a serious concern. Synthetic turf heats up to hazardous temperatures, jeopardizing the health and safety of athletes and others using the field, and exacerbates urban heat island effects.
Extreme heat is an increasing threat due to human-caused climate change and is one of the top five extreme weather hazards for Missoula County. Locally, we are experiencing a rise in hot and humid days, and that trend is expected to continue.
Over the past year, I’ve been part of a collaborative effort between Missoula County, the City of Missoula, and Climate Smart Missoula called Stay Cool Missoula, aimed at helping our community prepare for and respond to extreme heat in Missoula. This summer, we successfully completed a Heat Watch citizen science campaign, where volunteers collected temperature and humidity data across the City and County of Missoula. (The heat map resulting from this study will be available soon!)
Our Stay Cool Missoula team also collected local data to compare temperatures at three existing artificial turf and natural grass fields using a thermal imaging camera to record temperatures on an 84-degree day. At Big Sky High School and Fort Missoula Regional Park, the synthetic turf was recorded as approximately 25 degrees hotter than neighboring grass fields. At the University of Montana practice fields, the synthetic turf was a whopping 32 degrees hotter than the grass field across the street!
These artificial turf fields create urban heat islands that warm during the day and radiate heat into the local surroundings. This is problematic particularly in the summertime, as hot temperatures can cause heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or other life-threatening heat illnesses. Missoula already has hundreds of urban heat islands, and replacing the grass with artificial turf at Ogren Park would create yet another.
Heat is going to be more of a problem, not less, in the future. Installing artificial turf fields directly contradicts the community climate goals we’re working to achieve, as outlined in our collaborative climate resilience plan, Climate Ready Missoula.
We’re joining our partners at Families for a Livable Climate in urging the City to reject artificial turf. You can join these efforts and take action by signing this petition.
We ask City Council to honor the city and community climate commitments and protect athletes and our community from extreme heat by setting policy requiring natural grass rather than artificial turf in City spaces like Ogren Park.
Susan Teitelman is the Climate Resilience Specialist with Climate Smart Missoula. Climate Smart Missoula brings these Climate Connections columns to you several times per month. Learn more about our work and sign up for our e-newsletter at missoulaclimate.org.