Higher air pollution reduced nighttime cooling, and increased temperatures as outcomes of urban heat island can adversely affect human health . Human health is negatively impacted because of increased general discomfort, exhaustion, heat-related mortality, respiratory problems, headaches, heat stroke and heat cramps.
Why are urban heat islands a problem?
Heat islands contribute to higher daytime temperatures, reduced nighttime cooling, and higher air-pollution levels . These, in turn, contribute to heat-related deaths and heat-related illnesses such as general discomfort, respiratory difficulties, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and non-fatal heat stroke.
How urban heat islands affect people?
Urban heat Islands (UHI) pose a serious threat to public health, particularly for children, the elderly, people with respiratory illnesses and those who work outdoors. Higher temperatures can increase the risk of heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke or heat stress and even death.
How does urban heat island effect climate change?
With the heat island effect compounding the warming from climate change, cities will likely require more electricity for air conditioning than surrounding areas . ... For example, based on a 6.3 to 9°F temperature increase, climate change could increase the need for additional generating capacity by roughly 10-20% by 2050.
How does UHI affect plants and animals?
UHI- induced increases in temperature can affect plant phenology (the timing of developmental events such as leaf emergence and senescence) both within and around cities (Jochner et al 2012, Jochner and Menzel 2015).
How can we reduce the heat island effect?
- Increase shade around your home. ...
- Install green roofs. ...
- Install cool roofs. ...
- Use energy-efficient appliances and equipment. ...
- Check on your friends, family, and neighbors.
What is one cause of the heat island effect?
The main causes are changes in the land surface by urban development along with waste heat generated by energy use . As population centers grow, they tend to change greater areas of land which then undergo a corresponding increase in average temperature.
Why are temperatures higher in urban areas?
Hard, dry surfaces in urban areas – such as roofs, sidewalks, roads, buildings, and parking lots – provide less shade and moisture than natural landscapes and therefore contribute to higher temperatures.
What effect does temperature have on trees?
Way and Oren (2010) found that increased temperature generally increases tree growth , except for tropical trees. They suggest that this probably occurs because temperate and boreal trees currently operate below their temperature optimum, while tropical trees are at theirs.
Do cars contribute to urban heat island?
Motorised vehicles also contribute to the urban heat island effect , as they emit heat that can be trapped in poorly ventilated urban spaces such as urban canyons and form urban smog (Louiza et al., 2015) . ...
What are 5 factors that affect climate?
Hint:The five main factors which affect the climate of a region are Latitude, Altitude, relief, currents and winds and distance from the sea . Complete answer: Latitude: Climate of a region depends on the latitude where it lies.
Why modern buildings have an effect on heat island?
The increased level of thermal capacity of building masses has a direct bearing on city temperatures. Buildings can store a lot of heat during the day and release this heat slowly overnight. Many modern building materials with impervious surfaces trap heat, further increasing the UHI.
Why are urban areas more polluted than rural ones?
Urban pollution may come from natural sources, but the most detrimental are those emissions related to human activities . The anthropogenic sources of pollution, such as factories, industries, transportation, and so on, are typically exacerbated in cities due to the local concentration of humans and human activities.
What are the three main causes of the urban heat island?
- Low Albedo Materials. According to Bouyer, Albedo is the ratio of the reflected solar energy to the incident solar energy. ...
- Paved and Impermeable Surfaces. ...
- Thermal Mass. ...
- Dark Surfaces. ...
- Lack of Vegetation. ...
- Climate Change. ...
- Increased Use of Air Conditioner. ...
- Urban Canopy.
Why are rural areas cooler than urban areas?
Solar energy is absorbed over a larger spatial area in rural areas due to vast increase in surface area produced by leaves and twigs. More solar energy in rural areas is used to evaporate water. These combine to produce less sensible heat in rural areas as compared to urban areas.
What causes heat waves?
Heat waves are generally the result of trapped air. During the 2012 heat wave , air was trapped above much of North America for a long period of time. As opposed to cycling around the globe, it simply stayed put and warmed like the air inside an oven.
