Big cities' heat can change temperatures a continent away -U.S. study

[Judi Lynn]

Big cities' heat can change temperatures a continent away -U.S. study

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:59 GMT
Source: reuters // Reuters

* Burning fossil fuels in urban areas changes air currents

* City heat hitches a ride over vast areas of Northern Hemisphere

By Environment Correspondent Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The energy big cities burn - mostly coal and oil to power buildings, cars and other devices - produces excess heat that can get into atmospheric currents and influence temperatures thousands of miles (km) away, a new study found.

The so-called waste heat that leaks out of buildings, vehicles and other sources in major Northern Hemisphere cities makes winters warmer across huge swaths of northern Asia and northern North America, according to a report published on Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

That is different from what has long been known as the urban-heat island effect, where city buildings, roads and sidewalks hold on to the day's warmth and make the urban area hotter than the surrounding countryside.

Instead, the researchers wrote, the excess heat given off by burning fossil fuels appears to change air circulation patterns and then hitch a ride on air and ocean currents, including the jet stream.

More:
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/big-cities-heat-can-change-temperatures-a-continent-away--us-study

[CreekDog]

1. thanks for posting this

it is a subtopic that really deserves some attention.