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Urban Heat Island Effect, Extreme Temperatures and Climate Change: A Case Study of Hong Kong SAR

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Climate Change, Hazards and Adaptation Options

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is analyzed using LANDSAT8 satellite data acquired on two episodes of heatwaves over Hong Kong and processed using the split-window algorithm to retrieve the Land Surface Temperature (LST) over this area. The in situ ambient air temperatures measured by a number of local weather stations of the Hong Kong Observatory were used to validate the acquired LST. Regional temperature changes for the Hong Kong area for the 21st century generated using the climate scenario generator tool MAGICC/SCENGEN and constrained to SRES A2AIM project a rise in temperatures of between +0.9 and +5.4 °C. The results show the existence of severe UHI effects between urban and sub-urban localities during two severe heatwave events. Geospatial analysis of this local UHI problem quantifies how urban parks can minimize the UHI effect and a number of adaptation measures related to urban spatial planning are being recommended in view of a changing climate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK and the National Communications Support Program, UNDP/GEF, New York, USA for providing MAGICC/SCENGEN 5.3 code.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta

    Charles Galdies & Hok Sin Lau

Authors
  1. Charles Galdies
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  2. Hok Sin Lau
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Correspondence to Charles Galdies .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Oceanografia y Ecologia Marina. Coastal Climate Science, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Gustavo J. Nagy

  3. Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Legnaro, Italy

    Marco Borga

  4. Department of Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru

    Pastor David Chávez Muñoz

  5. Department of Hydrology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Artur Magnuszewski

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Galdies, C., Lau, H.S. (2020). Urban Heat Island Effect, Extreme Temperatures and Climate Change: A Case Study of Hong Kong SAR. In: Leal Filho, W., Nagy, G., Borga, M., Chávez Muñoz, P., Magnuszewski, A. (eds) Climate Change, Hazards and Adaptation Options. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37425-9_20

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