Australian Politics Forum - Urban Heat Island effect

lee

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Urban Heat Island effect
Aug 1^st, 2023 at 12:28pm

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ABC13's partners at Climate Central released new data Wednesday morning that shows how Houston's urban heat island can be felt differently from neighborhood to neighborhood. It's not just downtown where the greatest impacts are being felt.

An urban heat island is what happens when a city experiences warmer temperatures because of the given makeup of the city, with its buildings, roads and population all contributing to it.

It's a man-made impact and directly changes the climate in and around the city.

This warming directly results from how our spawning city, the networks of buildings, roads and even our growing population are warming Houston even more.

What scientists at Climate Central have found in this study is which areas of Houston are warming because of the urban heat island and by how much.

Generally, Houston's urban heat island adds around an extra two to five degrees on any given day. But according to this map, much of Houston experiences an urban heat island of six degrees or greater.

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UnSubRocky Gold Member Offline Crocodile Hunter: Origins Posts: 26229 Rockhampton Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #1 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 2:05pm I see. There are many streets in Houston. The roads absorb the heat and stay warm hours after the sun has gone down. There is no mystery to this topic.
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lee Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 21507 Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #2 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 2:41pm It is not just the streets. The buildings are mostly brick or concrete which also retain heat. Then there is restricted air flow because of buildings, some wind tunnels and others wind breaks.
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UnSubRocky Gold Member Offline Crocodile Hunter: Origins Posts: 26229 Rockhampton Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #3 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 4:41pm It is only good for when it is winter.
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Bobby. Moderator Offline Australian Politics Posts: 121963 Melbourne Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #4 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:08pm Thanks Lee, it means that many of the historic lower temperature readings are wrong.
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lee Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 21507 Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #5 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:30pm Bobby. wrote on Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:08pm: it means that many of the historic lower temperature readings are wrong. Not necessarily. Towns and cities have gotten bigger as people leave the countryside as well as immigration. It is more likely that the new temperatures are too high.
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Bobby.

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Re: Urban Heat Island effect
Reply #6 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:43pm

lee wrote on Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:30pm:

Bobby. wrote on Aug 1^st, 2023 at 5:08pm:

it means that many of the historic lower temperature readings are wrong.

Not necessarily. Towns and cities have gotten bigger as people leave the countryside as well as immigration. It is more likely that the new temperatures are too high.

It's obvious that the latest temperatures are falsely too high.

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Baronvonrort

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Re: Urban Heat Island effect
Reply #7 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 9:02pm

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 1^st, 2023 at 2:05pm:

I see. There are many streets in Houston. The roads absorb the heat and stay warm hours after the sun has gone down. There is no mystery to this topic.

It's not limited to Houston. Anyone in large cities like Sydney can see how the urban sprawl has grown over the last 40 years.

It's not only roads it's concrete and masonry buildings as well they absorb the heat which then radiates for many hours after the sun has gone down.

Some American cities are painting roads white to stop them absorbing and radiating heat.

We are also getting building codes outlawing dark colours on roofs.

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UnSubRocky

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Re: Urban Heat Island effect
Reply #8 - Aug 1^st, 2023 at 11:04pm

I am well aware of the urban sprawl that has contributed to urban heat. My town is large enough that it creates a barrier of heat that offsets cold nights. And when new housing development come along in various new suburbs, you can tell the difference in temperature of the area, when 25 years ago the suburbs did not exist.

I could imagine that the warmth trapped in during the cold winter nights are only marginally warmer. But, during heat waves and general hot days, the weather is artificially hotter. Although, this year's mild summer did not see hot days.

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AusGeoff Gold Member Offline Sage of Gippsland Posts: 6025 Victoria Gender:	Re: Urban Heat Island effect Reply #9 - Aug 2^nd, 2023 at 5:30am
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UnSubRocky

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Re: Urban Heat Island effect
Reply #10 - Aug 2^nd, 2023 at 1:19pm

Places like London have so many trees through the region that it is basically a forest. In my town, I can drive around with my window down and feel the warmth coming from the road and the surrounds. But, if I get pass the aged care facility on Alexandra St Ext and go north from there pass the farmland, the cool becomes apparent.

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