Urban form and extreme heat events: are sprawling cities more vulnerable to climate change than compact cities?
Abstract
Background: Extreme heat events (EHEs) are increasing in frequency in large U.S. cities and are responsible for a greater annual number of climate-related fatalities, on average, than any other form of extreme weather. In addition, low-density, sprawling patterns of urban development have been associated with enhanced surface temperatures in urbanized areas. Objectives: In this study. we examined the association between urban form at the level of the metropolitan region and the frequency of EHEs over a five-decade period. Methods: We employed a widely published sprawl index to measure the association between urban form in 2000 and the mean annual rate of change in EHEs between 1956 and 2005. Results: We found that the rate of increase in the annual number of EHEs between 1956 and 2005 in the most sprawling metropolitan regions was more than double the rate of increase observed in the most compact metropolitan regions. Conclusions: The design and management of land use in metropolitan regions may offer an important tool for adapting to the heat-related health effects associated with ongoing climate change.
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The primary causes of the urban heat island are low albedo surfaces, low evapotranspiration rates, and anthropogenic heat production.
“The primary causes of the urban heat island are the prevalence of low albedo surfaces (i.e., the proportion of solar radiation reflected by a surface), low evapotranspiration rates, and anthropogenic heat production (Akbari et al., 1992; Jones et al., 2012; Stone et al., 2010).”
From Review of emerging contaminants in green stormwater infrastructure: antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, tire wear particles, PFAS, and temperature (2024) · cites this paper as Stone et al., 2010
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- Authors
- Stone, B., Hess, J. J., & Frumkin, H.
- Affiliations
- School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- National Center for Environmental Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2010-06-23
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1425-1428
- ISSN
- 0091-6765
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC2957923
- Cited by
- 508
- References
- 1
- Language
- en
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