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Urban heat

During heat waves, the highest temperatures are often found in urbanized areas.

By 2070, 3.5 billion people will be heavily affected by heat, 1.6 billion of whom will live in urban areas (Chi Xu et al. 2020). Rising temperatures can negatively impact vulnerable people, workers, infrastructure and even GDP.

As the world warms, there is an urgent need to find ways to prevent the worst. Heat is a growing global challenge for communities large and small, across every development context, and requires collaboration amongst a wide array of disciplines and topic areas.

The uban heat island effect explained.
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Heatwave on the city
Update
Major cities hit by a quarter more hot days than in the 1990s

The world's major cities now experience a quarter more very hot days per year on average than they did three decades ago, according to new analysis by IIED.

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
Correlation between Land surface temperature and spectral indices through assessment of UHI magnitude in Coimbatore, India thumbnail
Documents and publications
Correlation between land surface temperature and spectral indices through assessment of UHI magnitude in Coimbatore, India

This study systematically examines the relationship between urbanization and urban heat island intensity through an analysis of land use land cover trends over 28 years from 1994 to 2022.

Environmental Research: Communications (IOP)
Unlivable: Confronting extreme urban heat in Latin America and the Caribbean thumbnail
Documents and publications
Unlivable: Confronting extreme urban heat in Latin America and the Caribbean

This report examines the growing threat of heat in cities across Latin America and the Caribbean, including the outlook for the coming decades, and what can be done to prepare, adapt, and protect the most vulnerable.

World Bank, the
Update
AU: Sydney on frontline for extreme heat, health risks, water threat

Western suburbs, where temperatures are often 5C warmer, need shaded bus stops, more green space and better environmental standards in rented homes, locals say.

Guardian, the (UK)
Research briefs
Extreme heat in U.S. cities revealed at high resolution

Data from personal weather stations power a novel way to detect urban heat islands.

American Geophysical Union
Nature-based cooling solutions for cities thumbnail
Documents and publications
Nature-based cooling solutions for cities

As cities across South Asia face rising heatwaves and the growing burden of urban heat islands, this special issue brings together global, regional, and local experiences to explore nature-based solutions (NbS) for urban cooling.

All India Disaster Mitigation Institute
Overheating cities: lessons from informal settlements in Dar es Salaam thumbnail
Documents and publications
Overheating cities: lessons from informal settlements in Dar es Salaam

This publication draws on findings from community-led data collection in two informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to reveal the effects of rising temperatures on health, livelihoods, education.

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
People on a main street in Ginza, Tokyo on a hot day protecting themselves from the heat by using umbrellas.
Research briefs
Japan: Revealing the impact of climate change through data fusion

Researchers led by Associate Professor Hideki Kikumoto at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have developed a new method to fuse climate analysis datasets with weather observations.

University of Tokyo 東京大学
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