- - -

SCIENTIFIC
Established 1845 AMERICANAugust 1961 Va.

The Cllinate of Cities

The variables of climate are profoundly affected by the physical
characteristics and human activities of a city. Knowledge of such
effects may make it possible to predict and even to control them

by William P. Lowry

t is widely recognized that cities tend basic inSuences that set a citv's climate
I to be wanner than the surrounding apart from that of the surrounding area.
countryside, and one is reminded aJ-
most daily by weather forecasts such as The first inJIuence is the difference be-
Since air is heated almost entirely by
contact with warmer surfaces rather
than by direct radJation, a city provides
a bighly efficient system for using sun-
"low tonight 75 in the city and 65 to 70 tween surface materials in the city light to heat large volumes of air. In
in the suburbs. - Exactly what accounts and in the countryside. The predOmi- addition, the city's many structures have \,
for the diHerence? ~teteorological stUd- nantly rocklike materials of the city's a braking deet on the wind, thereby
ies designed to answer such questions buildings and streets can conduct heat increasing its turbulence and reducing
have now been made in a number of about three times as fast as it is con- the amount of heat it c::m:iesaway.
cities. :\luch worL:remains to be done, ducted by wet, sandy soil. This means Third. the city is a prodigiow genera-
but one thing is clear. C~tiesdiffer from that the city's materials can ac:cept more tor of beat. particularly in winter, when
the countrYside not onlv in their tem- heat energy in less time, even though it heating systems are in operation. Even
perature b~t also in alJ ~ther aspects of takes roughJy a third more energy to in summer, however, tbe city has many
climate. heat a given amount of rock, brick or sources of heat that the countryside
By climate is meant the net result of concrete to a certain temperature than either ladcs or has in far smaller ~um-
several interacting variables, including to beat an equaJ amount of soil. The bers..Among them are factories, vehicles
temperature, the :amount of water vapor temperatw"e of soil at the wannest time and even air conditioners, which of
in the air, the speed of the wind, the of the day may be higher than that of a course mwt pump out hot air in order to
amount of solar radiation and the south-facing rock wall, but the tempera- produce their cooling eJfect.
amount of precipitation. The fact that ture three or four inches below the SUl- Fourth, the city has distinctive ways
the variables do not usually change in face will probably be higher in the wall. of disposing of precipitation. IE the pre-
the same wav in a city as thev do in the At the end of a day the rocky material cipitation is in the form of rain. it is
open countrY nearby"can oft~n be mea- will have stored more heat than an equal quickly removed from the surface by
sured directly in diHerences of tempera- volume of soil. drainpipes, gutters and sewers. U it is
ture, humidity, precipitation, fog and Second, the city's structures have a snow, much of it is cleared from the sur-
wind speed between a city and its en- E3r greater variety of shapes and orien- face by plows and shovels. and signiJi.
"irons. It is also apparent in such urban tations than the features of the natural cant amounts are carried away. In the
phenomena as persistent smog, the ear- landscape. The walls, roofs and streets country much precipitation remains on
lier blooming of flowering plants and of a city function lilce a mue of reSec- the surface or immemately below it; the
longer periods free of frost. tors, absorbing some of the enngy they water is thw available for evaporation,
The city itself is the cause of these receive and directing mucb of the rest to wbich is of course a cooling process pow.
differe~. Its compact mass of build- other absorbing surfaces [ue top ill.".. ered by heat energy. Because there is
ings and pavement obviowly constitutes tration on page 11]. In this way almost Jess opportunity for evaporation in the
a profound aheration.of the natural land. the entire surface of a C'ityis wed for ac- city, the beat energy that would have
$Cape, and the ac:thities of its inhabi- cepting and storing heat. whereas in a gone into the process is available for
tants :u-e:1considerable source of heat. wooded or open area the beat tends to heating the air.
Together these factors account for five be stored in the upper parts of plants. Finally, the air in the city is different

le1 IS

- -- -----
HEA T P.-\TTER:'i5 in Ihe lower :\Ianhlnaa area of :'iew York Cil}' ,bow, Ihe baildin" at .boUI 11:00 .1._'1.:lDd the oriew below .1 .boat
on a ~ummer dlY 3re .howo b~' infrued pholo,r~ph1". In Ihe pholo- 3:30 P.:W.Tbe d.y w.. tUDD1"bal huy; Ihe lemperalUre in the .ity
,r2pb.. ,,'hi.h ,,'ere ma.le wilh " Same. Iherrao,nph. the Ii,hlest durin!! Ihe time .ovend by the pholo,..pb5 WI' .boat 75 de,rus
are.. are Ihe ,,'arm..t "od Ibe darl..e.1 are the coolesl. The "ie... "bove F.brecheil. Tbe .Iora,e of beat by buildiD,. .Iect'. city', climale

:;)
102

--
 - - -- - - -- -- ----

in that it C".1rriesa heavy load of solid,

liquid and gaseous contaminants, About
80 percent of the solid c:ontaminantsare
in the form ol particles that are small
enough to rem.un suspended lor s~\"era)
U.1~'s in still .1ir, Although these particles
collectively tenr.! to reSect sunlight.
thereby reducing the 3D'Iount of heat
reaching the surfaces. they also retard
the outBow of heat, The gaseous con-
taminants. which u~ually ha\"e a greater
total m3SS than the solid ones, l-ome pri-
marily from the :ncompl~te c')mbustion
of fuels, One of the principal g:1Ses in
many cities is suiIur dioxiue; when this
gas is dissoh'ed under the appropriate
meteorological conditions in c:loud urop-
lets or raindrops, it is oxidized to lonn
dilute sulfuric acid.

~t USconsider how these fh'e inBuences

act o\'er a penoJ of time on the
climate of a 1.1I"'~ecity. Our hypothetk;1\
c:t\' '-ies in an .1re3 of Bat or gentlv roll,
ing cvunt,:'<iJe and h3S :10 I.~rge bodies
VI water nearh\", The d.l\ is a Sunda,', so
th.Jt :10 SUbst~ltiaJ arn~unts oi fuei are
b<:'illgu~et! for indu~tr!.l! pU!'pO~e:;,It i~ .1 5H..-\PE A:iD ORiE~,TATlO:-; OF ~l'RF.\CES in a dlY ha.-e a ,Iron, be:arin, on tb~ .Ii-
summer d.1~', with "h:ar skies 30d light male. "erlkal ...aU. tend to reRet'1 .013r radialion toward Ib~ ,round iD.lead 01 tbe ;ky,
winds, . RodJike materials al.o .Iore heal, so thai Ihe ,'ilY ofteD be"ome~ warmer than iu "n";rODS.
:\s the sun rises it shines equ.llly on
cit~. .Jnd ,'ount,:', The sunlight strikes
:lIe 3.1t, O~II colmtr;' at .I lo\\' angle;
much of it is rellected from dl~ surf.lce.
The nun." \'ertil'a! \\:Ills of :he city. how,
t'\'er, are .Ilmost p"'rpendil'ular to the
sun's .:I~'S, In spite oi the f.lct that when
the sun IS lo\\' UI the sic:\"its ra\'s are less
intense because the:-' o;ust j'>.L~sthrough
mure oi ;/;e e.lr:h's .1mlOsphere, :he walls
!.IegL'1.Ilmo~t .11ollce to .1osorb he.1t. In
the 'OIJntc\' ::ule heat is !wing Jbsurbed.
<,"en in th~ SUII:it .1!e:lS, -
L.Jte~ in the d.l\' :hc ru:.11 .areas b~g:n
to re>polld ~rhm~'like the dt~.., The s-un
II.lS:1sen hi::h ~nuu!:h for Its r:loi.Jtion to
unpll1g'! 01; the sl~rj.ace more directly
.Inu \\ Ith !ess re:ll'ction. The air outside
the: dty be~ms to wann r.1pidly, The city
h:.lS.I:read\' !>e-~:Iwarming f0r some time,
howe\'er, 'ano so it ha~ ;1 laroe '" lead
llI\\'ard the Jay'> rn:.1.XlIl1Um
temper.ature.
The warm air in the city conl1:mtrates
ne.1r the ~'Ity's cent!!'! of ~:lSS, T ,",ward
o:iumIJrning the J:r III the l:e:mer be~ins
to rise, Being wamler :It !!'acn I!!'\'el th:1n
the ..Iirat the s;une level in tile surround.
ing countr~;side. the city 3ir continues to
rise in a gentle stream ffo\\ing upward
from the center. The :lir thJt rises must
~ rep13ced; hence a Bow from the rural
,u~as into the city begins in the lavers
.il':1r the g~ound, The ;ir from the c~un. RADIATIO,," I~ COl'~TR'1SIDE lomds 10 be retlerled bar.k to Ihe "k~' beeau.e Ih.. rountry.
11'\'must ;tIso be reol.1ced. Jnd graduallv side ha! ie..'er ,'ertiral.urfare. Ihan Ihe dl~'. To,,'ard mitlda~'. howe,'er, wh..n Ih.. .un', ny'
.I 's:ow circulatio~ is established, Air are perpendicular to Ih" ,round. dly aDd rOUDtry I..mp..r:nur ma~' be about Ihe :ame.

17
.103

- -- ---~ -.+- ---- "--+-- _u..______

TE:\IPERATl"RE DI::TRIBt:TIO~ in San Franri~co OD a !prinll tempenture. The lbadiA, hIDpel from the mOlt deDlel! built.up
tvrDiD, is drpi't-aed by DlUM of i.other1l1f. ..hirb an liAe. 01 eqaa) arru I dark I throap. Ie.. denae lectioDA to OpeD CODDtry 'lip,).

nlJ~S)O~S OF BEAT from aD automoDile wids ill enpDe idiiDI ,nph. Bri~t area below the ear i. paveaeal. wbitl! "":I, ia direfl
appeal" iD aD iDlr.and photolraph made ..itb a Bamea tbermo- lUDIilbL Yebides are a major sOlUce01 beat productioD in a dty.

:8 104

-+ -. -- -- -- ---
 - --- - - - -

movesinto the center of the city in the

lower layers, rises in the central core,
flows ourward again at a higher altitude
and as it coolssettles down over the open
country to complete the cycle.
Near midday the sunlight strilces the
open country still more directly, and
the differeo<:e in temperature between
city and country becomes quite small.
Now the air rising over the city is not ap-
preciably warmer than the surrounding
air, so that in tbe early afternoon the
cyc:1eof circulation is considerably weak.
ened. As the afternoon progresses. how.
ever, a situation similar to that of the
early morning develops. The sun sinks,
its rays striking the open country at a
lower and lower angle; aD increasing
proportion of its radiation is reflected.
During this time the waDsin the city are
still intercepting the sun's radiation quite
directly. The difference in temperature
between city and country begins to in.
crease again, and the circulation of air
rising over the city and sinking outside it
is relnyjgorated. Just before SW1Setthe
circulation is fairly strong, but it we3lc.
ens again as darkness falls. At about this ANNUAL TEMPERATtJJlE RECORD o. Wuhiafl6D, D.c., and I.. eD.-ir4!'!I' :iYM ~ =....
time one would be liJceJyto find the tem. enle 01 aDDU) miDimDJD'_peraton, 'or ihe period 1946-1960.n. area iDaide eloted
perature at a weather station outside the ilotherm. eoDllitate what is DOWD.. ihe hat .bad.. Bere .. iD olber eities the ialaacl ia
city (such as at an aJrport) lower than the ...oeialed with the IDO.'deDiely huill-up p.n of the IU'b.. eompla.. nil map aDd the ODe
below are b.led ODau obtaiDed by ClareDee A. WOOUIUD of the u.s. WMtb.er Banaa.
temperature at the downtown weather
office.
During the night the surfaces that
radiate their wannth to the sky most
rapidly are the streets and the ~ftops.
If much of the rooftop area of the city is
al about the same height, there will be a
strong tendency for a cool layer of air to
be fonned at that level. With cool air at
the rooftops DOWlying below wanner air
just above it, a rather stable stratification
of air develops, and any tendency for
upward movement of wann air in the
spaces between buildings is inhibited.
The o,,-erall situation now is that the
roraJ area is cooling rapidly and the city
area is cooling slowly. Heat is being re-
mo,'ed from the fields by light winds and
by ahnost unobstructed radiation to the
night sL")'.10 the city, however. pockets
of air are trapped. They cannot move up-
ward, and they are still receiving heat
from the release of energy stored io the
walls of the buildings during the day.
Througb the night both the city and
the countrYside will continue to cool,
but bv da~ the citY is stilllikeiv to be
four ~ five de~s warmer dun its
surroundings.

E:uly ~lond:1ymorning the factories in

the city begin to put forth heat,
smoke and gases. Automobiles, trucks RECORD OF PRECIPITATION in the WuhiDl10D .rc. eoyft1 the ..me 15 yun U Ihe
and buses start to emit large quantities lemperature record. Both tOpcllrapby ad the esUleDce of the eil7 .flec' preripiUltioa.

105 19
DUST ooalE tH.. pc periodicaOy
Oy"!us. chi.. MaG" .f tho city aDd to MttJ. ...er lb. eooJer 8DYir to tbaa a elrealatory
the panicl.. of du.t aad 'lIIokcWI enter tbe air .. a reed .f ac. 'yMea de...&op.. Dome ill likely t. penitt, .ipi6c8DIJy a~ccUnl &be
li..lIl.. iDIbe elly. Air ICDdtto riM:oYerthe w_er cellini pan.f city', cUmate. aDliJ a ItrODI wiDd or a baa", nia carriea II away.

of heat 3nd fumes. Even sto"'es in kitch-
ens constitute a .sourceof heat that can-
not be neglected. .o\rtificialheating and
air poUution thus become meteorologi-
caDysignificant :ISthe day begins.
As before, the early sun starts to warm
the dty's walls IUld streets, and heat
begins to accumulate in the downtown
area. Today, however, there is a differ-
ence because of the heat being added to
the system by the tall chimneys of fac-
tones. Ordinarily air rising to the height
of the chimney tops would have had a
chance to cool, but now it receives more
heat at that level and wiD probably rise
higher above the city than it did on Sun-
day. ~Ioreover, the column of air now
c:arries a freight of particles of dust and
smoke. The smallest particles will faD
only after they have been carried away
&om the rising column of air and out
over the suburbs. Other particles will re-
main suspeoded over the dty aDday.
Over a long period of time the coo-

. 0Lj~AV!OL~ RADIAT:ON
.. .
_~ ".'-#:.I:."_ ".:c.,.~,:~.~~~..> , , :... . . _ ..
.' ',". ...' 0;'" , .

i
I I I
i) 20 60 SO 100 120 140 160 200
CiTY COMPA;<EDWITH ENVIRONSiPERCENT)

~J..UOR DIFfERENCES IN CLnI.-\TE betweeD a city Icolor) aDd W 5 pcrceDt Jes. uhnYiolea ndialiou tb.an Ibe ".!mtryside h.
iI. euyjroD' ',ray I an M:tout io ICnD:iof the per..eulale by which ._er. 30 pereeDll... iDwiDter; frequency of fo, iu city ia 30 per.
the city bat IIIOreor leu of neb climatic variable dunal a year teIIt hillier ill _Iller and 100 Perceal.hieAer ia winter. findia,.
tbu i. etperieuced ill the ..oantryfide. For esalllple, the city rOo were made by Hellllut E. Land.berl of the Univerlity .f 11.ryland.

20 106
 ------------

90
tinuow introduction and movement of
particles cre:ltes a dome.sh:aped layer of
I
haze over the city. This structure, v:ui- I

ously c:alled the "dust dome" and the

-haze hood," has long been cbar.1cteristic
of large cities, although in recent years
- I
85~

the general dirtiness of the air h3s made

~ I

the dome harder to distinguish from its

surroundings than it was several decades ~ I
\&. 80'
ago. Nonetheless, it still has a marked
effect on the city's climate.
At night. as the particles in the dome
~
a:
i
iI
l!)
mol, they can become nuclei on which ~
- ,I.
the moisture in the air condenses as fog. UJ
a:
Tbe phenomenon occurs over cities in ::::>

the middle latitudes when conditions are ~

a:
<AI
precisely right. Tbe first layers of fug Q,
~
will uswilly form near the top of the UJ

dome. where the particles cool most

t-
rapidly by radiation; the blanket be-
comes thicker by downward growth
untif it reaches the ground as smog. This
extra covering of water droplets over
the city further retards nighttime cool- 10 1 4 7 10 1 4 7
ing. Fog helps to perpetuate the dust EASTERN STANDARD TIME
dome by preventing the suspended par- 7... AUGUST (SUNDAY.MONDAY) 10-11AUGUST (WtDNESOAY, THURSDAY)
ticles from moving upward out of the - CENTRAL
PARK - CENTRAL
PARK
system. Thus one day's contribution oE JOHNF.KENNEDY
AIRPORT JOHNF. KENNEDY
AIRPORT
solid contaminants will remain in the air
TEMPERATURE DIFFIRE~CES .ppar in rudin"'1 I .u&her "'IioD iD N_ York CiIJ
over the city to be added to the ne;'(t .nd one .I.n .irpon in lb. enYiron. for Iwo 24-boUl' period. in Auf1I8I, 1966. Tbe Jl'8pb be-
day's. siD8 .1 ~:00 A.M. for eub period. Temperalure diJrereDCCI .re oft.1I 1... Pl'OlIo_eetI OD
In the absence of II strong wind or a weekead. &h,D00 weekd')'1 b«IIIK fewer of . dly'. hC81101U'U8 .ro opera1iD, ODweekend..
heavy rain to clear away the dust dome.
the haze becomes denser each day. In
winter. since less and less sunshine pene- percent more fog in summer and 100 The heat island has been observed in
tr.Ites the dome to warm the citv natu- percent more in winter. many cities, some large and some small.
rally. more and more fuel is b~ed to T. J. Chandler, director oE the Lon- some near water and some not, some
make up the difference. The combustion don Climatic Survey, has compiled a with biDs and some with none. How,
contributes further to the processes that number of records for the London are3. then, can one be sure that the heat
build up smog. It is in this gradual but He has found that over a period of 30 island, and thus the city cUmate itself, is
inexorable way that the smog problem years the average miL'(imumtempera- really attribu~ble to the works of man?
h3s attained serious dimension.~in many tures in the city. the suburbs and the J. MUrTayMitchell, urban climatologist
large cities. surrounding counb)'side were respec- in the U.S. Weather Bureau, has con-
tively 58.3, 57.6 and 57.2 degrees and sidered the question and found three
In sum. a citY'seffect on its own climate the average minimums 45.2. 43.1 and kinds of evidence that the city climate is
is comple~ and far-reaching. Helmut 41.8 degrees. His figures also show that caused by the city itself.
E. Landsberg of the University of ~far:v- over the period the city had consistently First, cities exhibit the heat island
land, who until recently was director of less sunshine than its environs did. whether they are Sat like Indianapolis or
climatology in the U.S. Weather Bureau, Some of these broad findings merit built on hills like San Francisco. Hence
has drawn up a balance sheet show- c:loser consideration. The patterns oE topography cannot explain the heat.
ing the net effect of the variables [see temperature in a city can be shown on island pattern. Second, temperature rec,
Ixmom fllustrGtion on opposite page). maps by drawing isotherms, or lines of ords averaged by day of the week show
Among other things, he has concluded equal temperature, for variow times. marked diJrerences betweeD Sundays
that cities in the middle latitudes receive Under a great variety of \vind. c:loudand and other days. Since many of the heat-
15 percent less sunshine on horizontal sunshine conditions isotherm maps all creating processes distinctive to cities
surfaces than is received in surrounding show the highest temperatures clustered are inactive on Sundays, it is evident that
rural areas and th:1t they receive 5 per- near the center of the citv, with lower those man-made processes account for
cent less ultraviolet radiation in summer temperatures appearing ~dially toward the heat island. Finally, Mitchell has
and 30 percent less in winter. unds- the suburbs and the countryside. The re- carefully examined the population and
berg's figures also show th:at the city. sulting pattern oEisotbernu suggests the temperature records of a number of cit-
compared \vith the countryside, h3s a 6 term -heat island" for the wannest area ies and found that the size of the heat
percent lower annual mean relative hu- [.see top illustration on page 19). The island and the diJrerence in temperolture
midity. 10 percent more precipitation. term is wed regularly by meteorologists between it and surrounding areas in.
10 percent more cloudiness, 25 percent to describe this major feature oEa city's crease as population does.
lower mean annual wind speed and 30 climate. Another fact to be noted about tern.
-.'
107 21

__ n n
 70 tends to perpetuate itself until the cli-
matic situation changes.
Another connection between winter
and the higher frequency of fog arises
from the low temperatures. Alter an in
cursion of cold arctic air the residents o.
the city increase their rate of fuel con-
sumption. The higher consumption of
fuel produces more particuJate ponu-
tants and more water vapor. The air
above a city is usually quile stagnant
following the arrival of a cold wave, and
thus the stage is set for the generation
of fog. Lacking ventilation, the city's
atmosphere fiDs with smoke. dirt and
",
water vapor. The particles of smoke and
,, dirt act as nucleifor the condensationof
/ t the water vapor. Becausethe water is

'n_
10J
shared 3D1onga large number of nuclei,
the air contains a large number of small
J MAR. APRil MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT.
water droplets. Such a size distribution
JAN. FEB. of water droplets forms a persistent fog.
TIME (MONTHS) andthefogretards warmingof the city.
LOSS OF BRIGHT SUNSHINE in London compared with UeM lliftoaDdin. Ihe city i. es- Retarded warming prolongs the need for
prelHd in lerml of aUuulel p8Z'day for each month. The fi,aret lbow the CilY'1nue,e 1_ "
extraheating.Onlyanotherchange of air
durin, the ~riod 1921 10 1950. London uea', di.triclI an npre.enaed by the derk line
mass will relieve the situation. This chain
el lOp, the iDner luburbt by the middle line end the oater .aburbl by the hoUom line. of events has been associated with nearly
every major disaster resulting from :W
pollution.
pentures is that the maximum difference there. Part of the reduction of sunlight Reduction of visual range by smoke
between city and countryside appears to in London :md other cities caDbe l:tid to aJone is not regularly recorded in cities.
be about 10 to 1.5degrees Fahrenheit, the fact that a city tends to be more It is recorded at airports, however, and
regardlessof the size of the city. Chan- cloudy than its environs. Warm air rising Landsberg bas been able to use dati'
dler has foundthisto be the case in Lon- over the center of the city provides a from the Detroit City Airport. which i.
don, which has a population of eight mechanism for the formation of clouds near the center of the city. and Wayne
million; my colleaguesand I h:lvefound on many days when clouds fail to form County Airport, which is in a more rural
the same in Corvallis, Ore., which has a in the country. :area, to deduce something about cli-
population of about 20,000. The frequency of fogs during the win- mAtic differences between a city and
ter has to do with the greater relative re- the nearby countryside. The reconls
Chandler's 6gures for the loss of sun- ductions in sunshine during the winter incfjcate that a city will have, in tbe
light in London show l:lrger losses nlonths, One caMot simply say, how- course of a year, 10 timesDlorehours in
in winter, when the sun is low, than in ever, that the greater frequency of fog which smokerestrictsvisibilityto a mile
summer. when sunlight t:tl.:es a short- explains the reduced total of SUDShine. or less than will be experien~ in rural
er path through the atmosphere. The A. feedback process is involved. Once :areas.
amount of reduction increases markedly fog forms. a weak sun has most of its en- Contr:1r)' to what one might thinlc..
tow',lfd the center of the city, showing ergy reSected from the top of the fog this situation may be improving some-
both the greater depth of the dwt dome lilyer. Uttle of the energy penetrates the what. Robert Beebe of the u.s. Weather
and the greater density of pollutants log to warm the city, and 50 the fog Bureau recentJy studied records of the
visual range at the major municipal air-
I I ports that did not change either their l0-
cation or their schedule of weather ob-
CITY
:
8 I i
servation between 1945 and 1965. He
found that the number of times when
! smoke reduces horizontal visibility at the
SUBURB.
. . i airports is less now than it was in 1945.
"
I The change might be explained by ef-
COUNTRY
I
III. i
I
I
I
I I
I
forts to control air pollution, resulting
in reduced concentrations of smoke and
i
in changes in the size and cb3racter of
o 5 10 15 20 25 :JO 35 smoke particles.
lOSS OF VISIBiliTY(PERCENTOF TIME)

FOG IN PARIS cal viaibiJity more i.. the cilY ,"'n in the l.rroUDdin. areal. Da.. ere The diJlerences in moisture and pre-
lor winler and .bow .b~ pefl:~nt 0' lime wb~n Yilibility w.. nchu:ed 10 between OM aUJ. cipitation between a city :md its en-
IDd a C(1WIeromilrby lilbt fOII'i,1II I. a qaarter-lDile 10300 reef b, moderate ro, (1Mflw.) virons :aresomewhat eantr:tdietorv. Dur-
md Ifll lha 300 feel by denle fo..clorlci.ln Ibe 5aIDmer there wcre fu fewer day, 01 foe. ing periods without rain the ;elative

22
108

-- --- --
scarcity of water for evaporation in the
city results in a reduced concentration
of water vapor in the air. Expressed as
relative humidity. the diierence gives
the city a reduction of 6 percent in the
annual average of the countryside. of 2
percent in the winter average and of 8
percent in the summer.
Even though the city is somewhat
drier than its environs. on the days when
rain or mow ,falls there is likely to be
more in the city than in the countryside.
The difference amounts to 10 percent in
a year. It buiJds up mostly as an accumu-
lation of small increments on drizzly
days. when not much precipitation faDs
anywh~re in the area. On such days the
er data. Although the studies are aimed
primarily at undeJstandiDg the meteoro-
Iogic:a1problems of air pollution, other
aspects of the loc:a1modiDcatioo of cli-
mate by cities will be better UDderstood
as a result.
What may be even more important
is the possibility of ascertaining the
potential of extensive urbanl%ation for
o 5
74
72~
~
causing large-scale changes of climate
over entire -contiDents.The evidenceis
not yet substantial enough to show that
urbanization does cawe such changes,
but it is sufficient to indicate that the
possibility cannot be ignored. The acqui-
sition of more lcnowledge about the cli-
mate of cities may in the long run be
one of the keys to man's survival.
MILES
25

oII
/
updrafts over the warm city provide & I"
enough extra lift so that the clouds there , ,-,~...,
681
produce a slightly higher amount of pre- " ,
) ";
cipitation. 6D' .,-' :
64
I,""
~
...
,--'-~ .
perhaps the wiDleave
have cited cablogue the
of reader
differences
think-I
62
ing that the city climate offers no ad- r,/)
vantages ovec the country climate. Ac- ...
....
tuaDy there are several..i~luding lower §
w
he01tingbills, fewer d01j's~'ith snow ~nd C
a longer ganlening season. Landsberg
has estimated that a citY has about 14
percent fewer days with mow than the
countryside. The season between the
last freeze in the spring and the first
freeze in the fall mav be three or four
weeks longer in the' city than in the
countryside.
Both the advantages and the disad-
vantages of city climate testify to the
fact that the city's climate is distinctly
different from the countryside's. Every c
m:1jor aspect of cUmate is changed.. if
only slightly. by an urban comple.'t.The
differences in a small city may be only
occasional; in a large city every day is
different climaticallv from what it would
have been if the ci~ were not there.
Fuller unde~ding of the dimatic
changes created by a city may make it
possible to manage city growth in such
a wav that the effect of troublesome
changes wiD be miniuud. Perhaps the
changes can even be made beneficial.
Several organizations are accumulating
climatological data on cities. I have ale
ready mentioned the London Climatic
SUlVey. Similar work is in progress in
the U.S. Environmental Science Services
Administration. at the University of Cal-
ifornia at Los Angeles, at New York Uni- o 5 :0 15 20 25
"'ersity and in the research laboratories
MILES
of the Travelers Insurance Company.
~Ieteorologisls in those organiz:1tionsare TDlPERA1'URE 1'RA VERSES betweeo the CaDDia, 1'oWD Mttioa of London and .h. tom.
driving instrumented automobiles, 8ying m_ity of Ware %Smiles aorm wet'e made on a Jane da,. Itolor) and nipt t6lGClc) by 1'. J.
instrumented aircr:l.ftand operating hun- Chandler of the London Climatie Sarvey. In eacb aiM be made aD outboaDd trip I.olid lw I
dreds of ground stations to obtain weath. aDd an inbound one I brolc~ lin.,. Dark shadiD. a. bouom .how. beam,. buih.ap area..

23

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