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July 30, 2007 Seto reports urban land use change has been and will continue to be one of the biggest human impacts on the terrestrial environment In a study recently released in the Journal of Climate, Center fellow Karen Seto finds first empirical evidence for an 'urban precipitation deficit'. Her team analyzed Landsat satellite images to determine the explosive growth in the Pearl River Delta in China, and then compared that to monthly climate data from 16 meteorological stations. For more information, contact:
Karen C. Seto, (650) 736-1295, kseto@stanford.eduOriginally appeared in ABC News, July 18, 2007 | ||||
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The Sky is Falling: It's Rain Big Cities are Changing Rainfall Patterns Around the World |
| "We found that as the cities get bigger, there is a negative impact on precipitation patterns, such that in the winter season there is a reduction in rainfall as an effect of urbanization," Seto said. "Primarily it is caused by the conversion of vegetated land to asphalt, roads and buildings. As a result, the soils have significantly less ability to absorb water, so in the winter months there is less moisture in the atmosphere and therefore a reduction in precipitation. We don't see the same impact in summer months, in part because the effect of the Asian monsoon masks the effect of urbanization." |
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| Related Link |
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| ABC News article |
