Images collected by European Space Agency satellites show exaggeratedly high temperatures on Earth in areas known as “urban heat islands”.
@employee
Researchers from the British University of Leicester, in collaboration with National Earth Observatory Center (NCEO), they have Unprecedented heat wave sweeping across the UK With alarming consequences.
Through images obtained by European Space Agency satellites, the researchers were able to detect surface temperatures recorded on national territory, which then turned into an increasingly reddish map in the areas hardest hit by the heat.
One might think that the surface temperature of the Earth is the same as the temperature of the air that we also observe, but these are two different (albeit closely related) measurements: The Earth’s surface is much hotter than the air It has the ability to influence weather and climate patterns on the planet.
Space observations of Earth’s surface temperatures provide unprecedented insight into the spatial structure of these anomalous and extreme heat waves, says NCEO lead and surface temperature researcher Professor Darren Gent.
@ University of Leicester
The map shows the warmest global surface temperatures centered around London and other major cities in South East England. Scientists call these areas “urban heat islands”: highly urbanized areas, where a higher concentration of concrete, buildings, and other dense materials absorb and retain heat at a faster rate than natural environments.
Reportedly one of the hottest places in the UK was London’s Heathrow Airport, where air temperatures reached 40.2°C and surface temperatures reached 48°C for the first time.
NCEO is working on a project, in collaboration withOrdnance survey It aims to monitor heat waves (which are expected to become increasingly frequent and extreme in the near future) in the most exposed places in the UK.
The project aims to provide meaningful insights for policymakers to manage the impacts of climate change in hotspots in the UK and beyond. The Earth observation data used in the pilot project will indicate extreme events and locations that could pose a greater risk to human health, such as cities where heat stress is an issue of particular interest in the scientific community.
Follow us cable | Instagram | Facebook | Tik Tok | Youtube
Resources: University of Leicester / National Earth Observatory Center
We also recommend:
