Surface urban heat islands in the mega city of Karachi, their spatial distribution and health emergency response infrastructure.

The 2015 heat wave resulted in an estimated over 1200 deaths during the month of June. However, there were no records on the spatial distribution of the effects of this heat wave. An analysis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) daily data was conducted to identify regions that experienced above normal temperatures in 2015. An analysis of the monthly averages showed that in general April and May were the warmer months in Karachi, unlike the case in 2015. In addition, the general warm trends were common in the highly industrialised Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and Liaquatabad towns, while Gadap, with its mostly barren land, and New Karachi also experience higher temperatures. Coastal towns were naturally cooler and more habitable in the given scenario. A count of the spatial presence of health facilities for the city was also extracted where Gadap and Korangi were poorly served while the more affluent towns of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Gulshan-e-Iqbal appeared to be better served.