Noticias

Climate in the city

Publicado en
26 de marzo de 2013

At present more than half of the world’s population lives in an urban environment. Cities are centres of economic and cultural activities. They will continue to grow and expand in the near future.

Daily weather has an major impact on the liveability of cities and human activities. Because of city design features and human activities the urban weather differs from the weather in rural areas. For example, it is well-known that temperature in the city is higher in particular during the night, a feature known as the urban heat island effect, and that buildings have a strong impact on wind.

In addition, the city influences the impact of weather events. For example, the increased soil sealing decreases water storage capacity and enhances the risk of flooding. Given the importance of cities for human wellbeing and activities it is a good idea to take into account urban climate in city design. To date, this is especially true since climate change is happening.

CALM team members are working on different climate related projects in urban areas.