Car colours and climate change: How your car's paint job worsens the urban heat island effect [View all]

Craig Saueurs
Published on 27/08/2025 - 7:05 GMT+2

On a scorching summer day, a parked car can feel like a furnace. New research from Lisbon shows that the effect isn’t just uncomfortable, it could be warming entire neighbourhoods.

And the colour of your car could be making it worse.

In a new study published in City and Environment Interactions, scientists found that dark-coloured vehicles radiate far more heat than light ones, raising nearby air temperatures by several degrees.

Scaled up across thousands of parked cars, this hidden factor could significantly worsen the urban heat island effect, when cities become much hotter than their surroundings.
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https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/08/27/car-colours-and-climate-change-how-your-cars-paint-job-worsens-the-urban-heat-island-effec