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Urban Heat Islands - Research Papers

Urban Heat Islands


For more than 100 years, it has been known that two adjacent cities are
generally warmer than the surrounding areas. This region of city warmth, known
as an urban heat island, can influence the concentration of air pollution. The
urban heat island is formed when industrial and urban areas are developed and
heat becomes more abundant. In rural areas, a large part of the incoming solar
energy is used to evaporate water from vegetation and soil. In cities, where
less vegetation and exposed soil exists, the majority of the sun's energy is
absorbed by urban structures and asphalt. Hence, during warm daylight hours,
less evaporative cooling in cities allows surface temperatures to rise ...

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release of heat tends to keep city
temperatures higher than those of the unpaved faster cooling areas.

On clear, still nights when the heat island is pronounced, a small thermal low-
pressure area forms over the city. Sometimes a light breeze, called a country
breeze which blows from the countryside into the city. If there are major
industrial areas along the city's outskirts, pollutants are carried into the
heart of town, where they tend to concentrate.

At night, the extra warmth of the city occasionally produces a shallow unstable
layer near the surface. Pollutants emitted from low-level sources, such as home
heating units, tend to concentrate in this shallow layer, often making the air
unhealthy to breathe.

The constant outpouring of pollutants into the environment may actually
influence the climate of a city. For an example, certain pollutants reflect
solar energy, thereby reducing the sunlight that reaches the surface. Some
particles serve as nuclei upon which water ...

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Urban Heat Islands. (2007, May 20). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Urban-Heat-Islands/65136
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"Urban Heat Islands." Essayworld.com. May 20, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Urban-Heat-Islands/65136.
"Urban Heat Islands." Essayworld.com. May 20, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Urban-Heat-Islands/65136.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 5/20/2007 06:11:01 AM
Category: Science & Nature
Type: Free Paper
Words: 524
Pages: 2

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