The Curious Relationship Between COVID‐19 Lockdowns and Urban Heat Islands
J. Marshall Shepherd
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a life-altering shock to society. However, there have been serendipitous outcomes from the associated lockdowns ranging from improved air quality to reductions in carbon emissions. Liu et al. (2022, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096842) revealed that even the magnitude of the heat islands in Chinese cities were reduced due to a decline in human activities and their associated anthropogenic contributions. These surprising findings have significant implications for understanding intersections among climate, health, energy, urban planning, transportation, and infrastructure.
Topics & Concepts
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Pandemic2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Air quality indexShock (circulatory)Urban heat islandGeographyClimate changeEnvironmental scienceEconomic geographyMeteorologyEcologyBiologyMedicineDiseasePathologyOutbreakInternal medicineVirologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)Urban Heat Island MitigationClimate Change and Health ImpactsCOVID-19 impact on air quality