 Cities often remove the natural landscape while they're being built, and now we're seeing the effects of that largely due to global warming, says another recent report by scientists that stated that the "heat wave would be impossible if not for climate change." 'We're basically talking about a phenomenon where there's a measurable increase in urban air temperatures that's caused by the way the city is built,' said Kaitlyn Trudeau, a climate scientist with Climate Central. 'It's additional warming that is caused by dark building materials, dark pavement, building heights, population density and lack of green space.' Climate Central's report also found that this 'heat island' weather most negatively impacts urban areas that are already home to poorer populations. 'The urban heat island effect){kind=link}
Approximately 41 million Americans live in cities designated as ‘urban heat islands,’ which include Phoenix, Houston, New Orleans and dozens of other major metropolises
More than 40 million Americans are waking up to find that their cities are hotter than ever – and scientists say that’s because they’ve become ‘urban heat islands’ where the temperatures are well above state averages.
A new report shows that people living in places like Phoenix, Houston, New Orleans, Newark, New York City, and San Fransisco often experience blazing sidewalks and weather that is between eight and 10 degrees hotter than it should be.
The paper, published by Climate Central, found nine major US cities housing over a million people each fell into the category of ‘urban heat islands’ – which is a scientific name created to describe places that have replaced tree cover and natural water sources with concrete sidewalks and tall buildings.
Cities often remove the natural landscape while they’re being built, and now we’re seeing the effects of that largely due to global warming, says another recent report by scientists that stated that the “heat wave would be impossible if not for climate change.”