The sharp difference in temperature between the city center and the surrounding countryside is a meteorological phenomenon known as the heat island effect. These are the causes:
It’s the same thing every summer: as soon as the temperatures rise, thousands flee the city to get some fresh air on the beaches or in the countryside. And for good reason – the weather doesn’t matter here. It can rain as much as you like – at some point it will get hot in the city. But why is that?
In addition to the general rise in global temperatures, scientists attribute the temperature contrast to a variety of factors. First and foremost is the high population density. Generally speaking, the more people live in a place, the warmer it gets. Of course, other factors such as car traffic, the number of trees in the city, the presence of subway stations, street lighting and the type of building materials must also be taken into account.
Asphalt and concrete, for example, retain a higher percentage of heat than earth. In addition, they only release it at night during the coolest hours in the form of hot air. In addition, the high density of tall or relatively tall buildings prevents outside winds from blowing the hot air away. Urban design also plays a major role in this sense: the more parks and trees a city has, the fresher its summer air.
As always, this apparent disadvantage also has a downside: hotter summers also mean less cold winters.