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Concrete and asphalt definitely do absorb huge amounts of heat - it’s well studied and called the urban heat island effect.
by stephen_g 3y ago
Concrete and asphalt definitely do absorb huge amounts of heat - it’s well studied and called the urban heat island effect.
- zo1 3y agoDo we know how much of that is causing global warming?
- s0rce 3y agohttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31558-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31558-z
- Solvency 3y agoYeah. Read a book. https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Ground-Reverse-Climate-Ultimately/dp/1501170252 https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Ground-Reverse-Climate-Ultimatel...
- stephen_g 3y agoGood link posted by s0rce in another reply, the authors' research seems to indicate the global effect is quite small, which tracks with what we might expect - it's a really big problem localised in cities because so much of the area around us is paved, but on a global scale the surface area of paved urban areas is not huge as a percentage of the surface of the earth.
- uoaei 3y agoHotter air results from the hot concrete. Then the air has more capacity for holding water instead of precipitating it out as clouds or rain. This increases the likelihood of 100%RH conditions, in direct sunlight, on top of a huge thermal mass heated to way above body temps, making heat waves deadlier because evaporative cooling becomes moot at that humidity and you're essentially in desert conditions surrounded by hot rocks.
- xeromal 3y agoI had to leave vegas at 4am this summer. The city was 72 or so degrees but as soon as I was out maybe 5-10 minutes of driving, it was 50-60. Unbelievable.