The frequency and intensity of heat waves in cities is increasing due to climate change, with a great negative impact on the health and mortality rates of the population.
The frequency and intensity of heat waves in cities is increasing due to climate change, with a great negative impact on the health and mortality rates of the population. Anthropogenic activities and urban materials affect heat accumulation in cities, and solar radiation stored throughout the day on asphalt and buildings is released slowly during the night, generating significant heat stress. To face this growing problem, cities must establish effective mitigation strategies that allow reducing the temperature during heat waves.
A study carried out by researchers from the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) assesses the effectiveness of solutions such as the creation of cool (white) roofs on the buildings and the expansion of urban green areas in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). The results, recently published in the scientific journal Urban Climate, show that the combined application of these two strategies would allow achieving the highest rates of temperature reduction during these summer episodes.
To conduct the study, the researchers used a meteorological model that included eleven different typologies of urban areas in the AMB and simulated the heat wave recorded in July 2015, when daytime temperatures reached between 35ºC and 40ºC, and night temperatures exceeded 25ºC.
Read more at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Photo Credit: geralt via Pixabay
