Urban Heat Island With Urbanization Problem

As the urban population continues to grow, the city continued to spread to the suburbs, that not only leads to inequality urban development but also results in a large number of agricultural land and green land is occupied by urban land. The modern cement city has brought many negative ecological issues, such as urban heat island. Urbanization has been influential in shaping cities, but has been identified as a critical source of environmental burden. The environment can be compromised very easily by abiotic components such as concrete, asphalt, and other building materials.

Urban heat island has always been a worldwide environmental problem over the years. The main reason is a lack of evapotranspiration in urban areas where vegetation and exposed soil are less; sun’s energy cannot be consumed in time because much of them are absorbed by pavement and building materials; in addition, greenhouse gases from vehicles, factories and households leading to higher surface temperatures (Figure 1). According to United States Environmental Protection Agency, the annual mean air temperature of the city is usually 1 to 3 ° C (1.8 to 5.4 ° F) higher than its surrounding landscape temperature. Another major influences are reduced soil moisture and reduced reabsorption of carbon dioxide emissions.

Figure 1. Urban heat island effect