Case for Grass: Artificial Turf Causes Global Warming

I think nearly all football fans and nearly all football players prefer grass to artificial turf. Although modern Field Turf is vastly superior to old-school Astroturf in terms of both aesthetics and injuries, it's still not as good as grass.

But artificial turf seems to be the wave of the future: Although it's expensive to install, once it's in, there's very little maintenance required, and that makes it cost-effective, which is why Field Turf is spreading through the NFL, college football and now even high schools.

As several high schools in the Boston area consider installing artificial turf fields, advocates of grass are making a new argument: Artificial turf causes global warming.

Stuart Gaffin, an atmospheric scientist whose focus is excess heat in urban areas and storm-water runoff, said synthetic turf poses problems on both scores.
Last summer, as part of a study of heat radiation in New York City, Gaffin found the temperature above artificial turf fields measured at 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, creating what he described as "heat islands."

The makers of Field Turf say it only gives off slightly more heat than grass, and I doubt the environmental argument is going to work on cost-conscious administrators. But I like any argument that leads to football being played on the surface Walter Camp meant for it to be played on: grass.