Conservation and expansion of green areas, and preservation of water bodies in and around cities could be an effective strategy to curb the effects of urban heat islands
Current Affairs:A group of analysts from the IIT Kharagpur has discovered that most urban areas in the nation are transforming into “urban warmth islands” in all seasons during day and night, authorities said.
In their investigation, scientists from the Center for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) of the IIT-KGP and its Architecture and Regional Planning office demonstrated that most huge urban communities in the nation with populace more than one million have recorded ascent in mercury level during daytime while indicating an expanding pattern in the night hours.
The investigation, ‘Anthropogenic compelling compounding the urban warmth islands in India’, noticed that the generally hotter temperatures in urban zones, contrasted with rural areas, have potential wellbeing risks because of warmth waves separated from contamination, an IIT KGP articulation said on Friday.
“Our examination is a nitty gritty and cautious investigation of urban warmth islands of India, which is the distinction among urban and encompassing country land surface temperatures, over all seasons in 44 significant urban areas from 2001 to 2017,” Professor Arun Chakraborty, one of the scientists, said.
He further stated, “Just because, we have discovered proof of mean daytime temperature of Surface Urban Heat Island (UHI Intensity) going up to 2C for most urban communities, as dissected from satellite temperature estimations in storm and post-rainstorm periods.”
In Kolkata, Pune and Guwahati where the urban zones are encompassed by enormous green spread in rural districts, there is “an improved cooling impact on surface” in rural regions during daytime as against urban communities in dry locales, the scientists said.
Aditi Mehta 