{"id":269918,"date":"2023-07-28T14:26:22","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269918"},"modified":"2023-07-28T14:26:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:26:33","slug":"houston-recognizes-they-have-a-problem-the-uhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269918","title":{"rendered":"Houston Recognizes They Have a Problem, the UHI."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Anthony Watts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above: Map showing the UHI effect around the Houston Metropolitan area. From ABC13.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday, July 25, ABC13 in Houston reported on the city\u2019s temperatures from new data that accounted for the\u00a0Urban Heat Island effect<\/a>\u00a0(UHI) within the city and its surrounding suburbs. The results from the data show that Houston experiences a UHI impact of six degrees Fahrenheit or greater on any given day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a0the article<\/a>, ABC13 News acknowledges what The Heartland Institute has long pointed out, the urban heat island effect impacts measured temperatures and people\u2019s lives. They cite an example, saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Say the forecast high temperature is 90 degrees. Factor in the additional warmth from the urban heat island, and it could feel like 95 degrees in Rosenberg, 97 in Humble, 98 downtown, or even 99 in Baytown.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The story also notes that the UHI is greater with a broad reach than previously acknowledged, even effecting less densely populated areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This finding parallels what was revealed in the 2022 Heartland Institute report\u00a0Corrupted Climate Stations: The Official U.S. Surface Temperature Record Remains Fatally Flawed<\/em><\/a>\u00a0which found approximately 96 percent of U.S. temperature stations used to measure climate change fail to meet what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) considers to be \u201cacceptable\u201d and \u00a0uncorrupted placement by the agency\u2019s own published standards. The UHI effect, which grows along with the size of cities,\u00a0creates artificial warming\u00a0at many long-term temperature stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As was found in Houston, weather stations within the UHI effect read higher temperatures, meaning temperatures recorded at these stations are warmer than they would be absent the presence of artifacts of development, like buildings, parking lots, and machinery that have been built up or are in use around them which trap and\/or generate heat. From that report, for example, Figure 1 shows a station in rural Dillon, MT that is biased warmer due to its proximity to a sunlit brick wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Visible and infrared photos of NOAA MMTS temperature sensor placement near a large sunlit wall and electric power generation plant at Dillon, MT, USHCN Station at Western Montana University. Source: Anthony Watts<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The chart below, found on page 17 of the\u00a0report<\/a>, shows 30 years of data from NOAA temperature stations in the Continental United States (CONUS). The blue lines show recorded temperatures and the trend from stations that comply with NOAA\u2019s published standards. The yellow lines are temperatures taken from stations that are not compliant with those standards (i.e. near artificial hot spots). The red lines are the \u201cofficial\u201d adjusted temperature released by NOAA.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 2: From Watts, et al, 2015. Comparisons of 30-year temperature trends for unperturbed and compliant Class 1 and 2 USHCN stations to unperturbed and non-compliant Class 3, 4, and 5 USHCN stations, compared to NOAA final adjusted V2.5 USHCN data in CONUS. Bias at the microsite level (the immediate environment of the sensor) in the unperturbed subset of USHCN stations has a significant effect on the mean temperature (Tmean) trend. Well-sited stations show significantly less warming from 1979 \u2013 2008.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you look at the blue line in Figure 2 of unperturbed stations that adhere to NOAA\u2019s published standard \u2013 ones that are correctly located and free of localized urban heat biases \u2013 they display about half the rate of warming compared to perturbed stations that have UHI biases. Extrapolating from the U.S. data, on average, urban heat islands\u00a0increase<\/strong>\u00a0the global surface<\/strong>\u00a0temperature trend by almost 50 percent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the Houston UHI finding, the issue of localized heat-bias was proven in a real-world experiment conducted by NOAA\u2019s laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and\u00a0published in a peer reviewed science journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UHI has long been either ignored and\/or its impact on temperatures downplayed in the climate debate, despite the fact that it clearly significantly influences daily temperature measurements, as well as long-term climate trends. Kudos to ABC13 in Houston for reporting honestly on how the UHI affects Houston\u2019s temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Anthony Watts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watts has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has created weather graphics presentation systems for television, specialized weather instrumentation, as well as co-authored peer-reviewed papers on climate issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He operates the most viewed website in the world on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, July 25, ABC13 in Houston reported on the city\u2019s temperatures from new data that accounted for the\u00a0Urban Heat Island effect\u00a0(UHI) within the city and its surrounding suburbs. The results from the data show that Houston experiences a UHI impact of six degrees Fahrenheit or greater on any given day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":269930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691820679,691818397,691821407,691821156],"class_list":{"0":"post-269918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-noaa","10":"tag-temperature-stations","11":"tag-urban-heat-island-uhi","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0urbanheatisland.jpg?fit=1640%2C885&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18dw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":372439,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372439","url_meta":{"origin":269918,"position":0},"title":"Sorry, ABC News, Early Cherry Blossom Bloom Is Due to Urban Heat Island, Not Climate Change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"ABC News ran a story this week reporting on the early bloom of the cherry blossom trees in Washington, D.C., attributing the early bloom to climate change. This is false. Although the cherry blossom bloom has arrived earlier in recent years, the cause is the population increase in D.C, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ABC News\"","block_context":{"text":"ABC News","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=abc-news"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Jefferson_Memorial_Cherry_Blossoms_Tidal_Basin_Washington_DC.jpg?fit=1024%2C819&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Jefferson_Memorial_Cherry_Blossoms_Tidal_Basin_Washington_DC.jpg?fit=1024%2C819&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Jefferson_Memorial_Cherry_Blossoms_Tidal_Basin_Washington_DC.jpg?fit=1024%2C819&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Jefferson_Memorial_Cherry_Blossoms_Tidal_Basin_Washington_DC.jpg?fit=1024%2C819&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":378577,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378577","url_meta":{"origin":269918,"position":1},"title":"Our Urban Heat Island Paper Has Been Published","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It took the better part of two years to satisfy the reviewers, but finally our paper\u00a0Urban Heat Island Effects in U.S. Summer Surface Temperature Data, 1895\u20132023\u00a0has been published in the AMS\u00a0Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.","rel":"","context":"In \"GHCN stations\"","block_context":{"text":"GHCN stations","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ghcn-stations"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/00glo-urban-heat-island-effect.webp?fit=1200%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/00glo-urban-heat-island-effect.webp?fit=1200%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/00glo-urban-heat-island-effect.webp?fit=1200%2C690&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/00glo-urban-heat-island-effect.webp?fit=1200%2C690&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/00glo-urban-heat-island-effect.webp?fit=1200%2C690&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":378625,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=378625","url_meta":{"origin":269918,"position":2},"title":"SHOCK CLIMATE REPORT! Urban Heat Islands Responsible for 65% of Global Warming","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A new study from the University of Alabama in Huntsville addresses the question of how much the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is responsible for the higher temperatures at weather stations across the world. 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Chances are it is because it has fewer trees. Trees help cool neighborhoods down and reduce what\u2019s called the \u201curban heat island effect\u201d. From Roy Spencer, PhD. November 3rd, 2023 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D. As a follow-on to\u00a0our paper\u00a0submitted on a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"1800-2023\"","block_context":{"text":"1800-2023","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=1800-2023"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OIG-49.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OIG-49.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OIG-49.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OIG-49.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":348954,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=348954","url_meta":{"origin":269918,"position":4},"title":"Urban Heat Island Effects Have Not Yet Been Removed from Official GHCN Warming Trends","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"26\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Our paper (co-authored by John Christy and Danny Braswell) on computing the urban heat island (UHI) effect as a function of population density (PD) is now in the final stages of review after a 3rd round of edits, and I\u2019m hopeful it will be accepted for publication soon.","rel":"","context":"In \"GHCN Warming Trends\"","block_context":{"text":"GHCN Warming Trends","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ghcn-warming-trends"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-10-26-083344.png?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-10-26-083344.png?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-10-26-083344.png?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-10-26-083344.png?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/0Screenshot-2024-10-26-083344.png?fit=1200%2C851&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":349393,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349393","url_meta":{"origin":269918,"position":5},"title":"A Demonstration: Low Correlations Do Not Necessarily Lead to Low Confidence in Data Regressions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In a recent post I used our new Urban Heat Island (UHI) warming estimates at individual U.S. GHCN stations having at least 120 years of data to demonstrate that the homogenized (adjusted) GHCN data still contain substantial UHI effects. 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