Learn how to keep Newark cool and help everyone breathe easier.
Cooler
Neighborhoods
Cleaner
Air
Healthier
People
Stronger
Communities
Complete missions, earn badges, and help make Newark a cooler, healthier city.
OUR CITY
Newark is the largest city in New Jersey. It is home to vibrant neighborhoods, community spaces, and beautiful parks.
Branch Brook Park is renowned for having the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in the United States.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Newark experiences higher summer temperatures than many nearby communities. The city can also experience poor air quality.
Buildings, roads, and sidewalks can absorb sunlight and hold heat, making neighborhoods feel hotter.
Air quality tells us how clean or polluted the air is and how healthy it is to breathe.
KEEPING NEWARK COOL
Buildings designed with east-facing windows can remain cooler during the hottest parts of the day.
Trees provide shade, manage rainfall, beautify streets, and help people feel cooler and healthier.
Shaded playgrounds and splash pads give children safe and fun places to cool down.
Green roofs use plants to reduce heat on buildings and manage rainfall.
Walls covered with plants can add shade, reduce heat, and bring more greenery into neighborhoods.
Painting roofs white reflects sunlight instead of absorbing it, helping buildings stay cooler and use less energy.
BREATHE EASIER
Hot days can make air quality worse. Tiny particles and gases from cars, trucks, factories, and hot weather can make breathing more difficult. Children, older adults, and people with asthma can be especially sensitive to poor air quality.
The Air Quality Index, or AQI, is a simple tool that tells us how healthy the air is each day.
Healthy trees help filter pollutants, provide shade, and support healthier neighborhoods.
Walking or riding a bike for short trips can reduce the number of cars on the road. They produce no exhaust and help reduce air pollution.
Buses and trains can carry many people while reducing the number of individual cars on the road.
BELINDA’S MISSION MAP
MY CLIMATE HERO JOURNEY
MY ACTIVITY
THIS WEEK
Complete all five actions to earn the Weekly Climate Hero Badge.
BELINDA’S GAME ZONE
Find words about heat safety, clean air, trees, cooling, and healthy neighborhoods.
Drag each item into the correct box. Which places make Newark hotter and which help keep it cool?
Complete the picture to discover why a park can feel cooler than busy downtown streets.
Downtown Newark is getting really hot! Put the picture back together and find the cooler place.
0 pieces are in the correct place.
Buildings and pavement can hold heat. Trees provide shade, and plants release moisture that helps cool the air.
On a hot day, choose shade, drink water, and take breaks before you feel too warm.
