7. Atmospheric and Surface Temperature

The surroundings are full of “smoke” and redness during the 2010 Shanghai Expo in Shanghai, China. June 2010.

Urban Heat Islands

Urban Heat Islands involve a combination of high fuel combustion activities, massive absorption of heat by urban materials of concrete and asphalt, as well as the dust dome (dome-shaped layer of polluted air) in the city. The dome-like circulation of warm air is usually what creates a dust dome which the dust in the city is stuck within an unending cycle throughout the city. As the warm air lifts the small (less dense) particles up in the middle of the city, this low pressure area contains hot air and many little particles which are then slowly drifting toward the edge of the city while the air (and particles) are suck back into the city due to the low pressure (movement of high to low pressure) in the center of the city. Smog, which is poor-quality surface-level air, can also be seen in these highly polluted areas. When I was in Shanghai (China), the heat over there has a different feeling and you can barely see a thing at far distances. The weirdest thing is the red color throughout Shanghai (it was not the camera), the entire area was smoky and red. This could be the result of high sun radiation on urban heat islands.