Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China

doi:10.1073/pnas.0400357101

Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China

^*School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332; ^‡Department of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China; ^§National Meteorological Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China; ^¶Department of Geography, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215; and ^∥Biospheric Sciences Branch, Code 923, National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Edited by James E. Hansen, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY (received for review January 15, 2004)

Abstract

China has experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic economic growth since its reform process started in late 1978. In this article, we present evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate based on analysis of impacts of land-use changes on surface temperature in southeast China, where rapid urbanization has occurred. Our estimated warming of mean surface temperature of 0.05°C per decade attributable to urbanization is much larger than previous estimates for other periods and locations. The spatial pattern and magnitude of our estimate are consistent with those of urbanization characterized by changes in the percentage of urban population and in satellite-measured greenness.

Footnotes

↵ † To whom correspondence should be addressed at: School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, 311 Ferst Drive, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332. E-mail: lmzhou{at}eas.gatech.edu.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Abbreviations: UHI, urban heat island; DTR, diurnal temperature range; R-1, National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis; R-2, National Centers for Environmental Prediction/Department of Energy (NCEP/DOE) Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP)-II Reanalysis; NDVI, normalized difference vegetation index.