Reduction in human activity can enhance the urban heat island
Insights from the Covid-19 lockdown
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15549434 |
|---|---|
| Authors | TC Chakraborty (0000-0003-1338-3525, Yale University), Chandan Sarangi (0000-0002-4850-5118, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, corresponding author), Xuhui Lee (0000-0003-1350-4446, Yale University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 054060-054060 |
| Publication date | 2021-03-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/abef8e |
| OpenAlex | W3162113645 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 61 |
The COVID-19 lockdowns drastically reduced human activity, emulating a controlled experiment on human–land–atmosphere coupling. Here, using a fusion of satellite and reanalysis products, we examine this coupling through changes in the surface energy budget during the lockdown (1 April to 15 May 2020) in the Indo-Gangetic Basin, one of the world’s most populated and polluted regions. During the lockdown, the reduction (>10%) in columnar air pollution compared to a five year baseline, expected to increase incoming solar radiation, was counteracted by a ∼30% enhancement in cloud cover, causing little change in available energy at the surface. More importantly, the delay in winter crop harvesting during the lockdown increased surface vegetation cover, causing almost half the regional cooling via evapotranspiration. Since this cooling was higher for rural areas, the daytime surface urban heat island (SUHI) intensity increased (by 0.20–0.41 K) during a period of reduced human activity. Our study provides strong observational evidence of the influence of agricultural activity on rural climate in this region and its indirect impact on the SUHI intensity
Atmosphere (unit · Atmospheric sciences · Baseline (sea · Climate change · Climatology · Cloud computing · Cloud cover · Daytime · Energy budget · Evapotranspiration · Geography · Land cover · Land use · Meteorology · Urban heat island · Vegetation (pathology · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Environmental Science · Urban Green Space and Health · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Ecology · Oceanography
Distinct roles of land cover in regulating spatial variabilities of temperature responses to radiative effects of aerosols and clouds
Strong regulation of daily variations in nighttime surface urban heat islands by meteorological variables across global cities
The case of Tehran's urban heat island, Iran
Impact of Covid-19 induced lockdown on land surface temperature, aerosol, and urban heat in Europe and North America
Feasibility of afforestation as an equitable nature-based solution in urban areas
Mitigation of urban heat island in China (2000–2020) through vegetation-induced cooling
Exercising under Covid-2x
Effects of Covid-19 Restriction Policies on Urban Heat Islands in Some European Cities
Urbanization exacerbates continental- to regional-scale warming
Regional warming from urbanization is disproportionate to urban expansion rate
Air quality and urban climate improvements in the world’s most populated region during the Covid-19 pandemic
Two decades of aerosol trends over India
Investigating the relationship between Covid-19 shutdown and land surface temperature on the Anatolian side of Istanbul using large architectural impermeable surfaces
The impact of urban landscape patterns on land surface temperature at the street block level
Covid-19 lockdown allows researchers to quantify the effects of human activity on wildlife
The energetic basis of the urban heat island
Regions of Strong Coupling Between Soil Moisture and Precipitation
Magnitude of urban heat islands largely explained by climate and population
Surface Urban Heat Island Across 419 Global Big Cities
Urban heat islands in China enhanced by haze pollution
Covid-19 lockdowns cause global air pollution declines
Strong contributions of local background climate to urban heat islands
TROPOMI on the ESA Sentinel-5 Precursor
A simplified urban-extent algorithm to characterize surface urban heat islands on a global scale and examine vegetation control on their spatiotemporal variability
Interaction between urban heat island and urban pollution island during summer in Berlin
The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (Merra-2)
A review on the generation, determination and mitigation of Urban Heat Island
Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools
The ERA5 global reanalysis
Google Earth Engine
Random Forests
Disproportionately higher exposure to urban heat in lower-income neighborhoods
Climate forcing and response to idealized changes in surface latent and sensible heat
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,8 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |