Talk:Urban heat island/Archive 4

External links modified (January 2018)
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090612185622/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/052.htm to http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/052.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054154/http://vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/index.html to http://vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/index.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120321035335/http://www.vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/voluntary-green-building-programs/index.html to http://vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/voluntary-green-building-programs/index.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120321035335/http://www.vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/voluntary-green-building-programs/index.html to http://vinylroofs.org/resources/coof-roofing-codes-programs-standards/voluntary-green-building-programs/index.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090612185622/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/052.htm to http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/052.htm

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 7 January 2019 and 9 April 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Yunxin Song. Peer reviewers: Jocelyn519, KHorton98, Zhux9, HannahWV.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 12:10, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Removed section on "urban cold island"
I don't think this fits here, as it's pretty much unrelated and digressing from main topic and not WP:DUE.

Urban cold island
The same urban area that is hotter in the day can be colder than surrounding rural areas at ground level at night, leading to a new term urban cold island. Snow cover in rural areas, for example, insulates plants. This was an unexpected discovery when studying the response of plants to urban environments. The urban cold island effect takes place in the early morning because the building within cities block the sun's solar radiation, as well as the wind speed within the urban centre. Both the urban heat island and urban cold island effects are most intense at times of stable meteorological conditions. Several other studies have observed the urban cool island in semi-arid or arid regions. The reason for this phenomenon is the availability of water and vegetation in the urban region as compared to the surroundings. EMsmile (talk) 11:32, 14 March 2023 (UTC) EMsmile (talk) 11:32, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Removed further reading list
I don't think this further reading list adds much value. Important publications should rather be used for in-line citations:



EMsmile (talk) 11:33, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Removed overly specific details on examples
I've removed this section as I find it overly detailed with some very specific small examples. However, I guess we could start an "examples" section if we think we need it? But overall, wouldn't this be better off at articles such as green infrastructure or urban trees?

Incentives
EMsmile (talk) 12:14, 14 March 2023 (UTC) EMsmile (talk) 12:14, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Sacramento Tree Foundation have partnered to provide the city of Sacramento shade trees for free. The program allows citizens to receive trees from four to seven feet tall. They also give them fertilizer, and delivery, all at no cost. They encourage citizens to plant their trees to benefit their home by reducing air conditioning costs. Approximately more than 450,000 shade trees have been planted in the Sacramento area.
 * The Eco-Roof Incentive Program: In Canada, grants are distributed throughout Toronto for installing green and cool roofs on residential and commercial buildings. This will reduce usage of energy and lower green house gas emissions.
 * Tree vitalize: This program is a partnership with multiple entities that focuses on helping restore tree cover in the city, it also educates citizens about the positive effects of trees on climate change and the urban heat island effect. And another goal they have is to build capacity among local governments to understand, protect and restore their urban trees. Because there is a need for educating citizens about the maintenance of trees, Treevitalize provides nine hours of classroom and field training to community residents. The classes cover a variety of topics such as tree identification, pruning, tree biology, and proper species selection.

Proposed new hatnote
I am proposing this as a hatnote to ensure people in future don't add too much other climate change content into this article: This article is about a higher ambient temperature in cities due to the way they are built. For the effects of climate change on temperatures in cities, see climate change and cities. However, the article climate change and cities needs to be structured a bit better. Another possible place to link to would be heat wave. EMsmile (talk) 14:47, 14 March 2023 (UTC)


 * THat is a very wordy hatnote, and I doubt people will read it before they start adding content.. —Femke 🐦 (talk) 18:58, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I've now tried to make it less wordy. I agree this hatnote won't stop newbies, students and other editors from adding climate change type content that doesn't belong here but it gives the page watchers an easier justification for removing such content. One could just say "see hatnote".... That's why I think such a hatnote would be useful. EMsmile (talk) 10:10, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

Removed content in "On weather and climate"
I've removed this text block because it seemed to me a bit speculative and poorly sourced and likely WP:UNDUE. If I've made a mistake here, please comment or improve the refs:

"Research has been done in a few areas suggesting that metropolitan areas are less susceptible to weak tornadoes due to the turbulent mixing caused by the warmth of the urban heat island. Using satellite images, researchers discovered that city climates have a noticeable influence on plant growing seasons up to 10 km away from a city's edges. Growing seasons in 70 cities in eastern North America were about 15 days longer in urban areas compared to rural areas outside of a city's influence. " EMsmile (talk) 11:23, 15 March 2023 (UTC) EMsmile (talk) 11:23, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

Culling and condensing
I've done some culling and condensing today, mainly in that area of urban trees and examples from the U.S. (which had mainly been added by students back in 2014). I think more culling and condensing is still needed in the second half of the article mainly. We need to be mindful that we don't repeat and overlap too much with content that is at effects of climate change on human health or at climate change and cities or heat wave, i.e. how increased temperatures affect humans, in particular city dwellers. I think we have to be careful to not make this too much into a "climate change" article even if climate change makes hot cities even hotter etc. EMsmile (talk) 12:39, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I've continued with this culling exercise today (e.g. moving content in the health impact section to heat illness). I think I am done for now with the culling work that I felt was required. EMsmile (talk) 11:49, 16 March 2023 (UTC)

Good article reassessment?
I see this article has a WP:GA status. I think it might be in need of reassessment. I haven't yet done an in-depth analysis but from a quick check it seems to me that the structure of the article needs a bit of work (too many level 1 headings for things that could be grouped together, such as impacts). Probably also too many bullet point lists and content that is too detailed here compared to relevant sub-articles. I've had a look at the WP:GAR page and am wondering if it's worth opening a good article reassessment now or later or not at all? (note I won't have time to get involved in depth in the GAR process, does that mean I shouldn't start it?) - Pinging a few people who might be interested: User:William M. Connolley, User:Thegreatdr, User:Ed Poor, User:Vsmith, User:Femke, User:Chidgk1. EMsmile (talk) 11:04, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I've now already done some of the culling and re-arranging that I felt the article needed to come back to GA status (see also in the sections below). EMsmile (talk) 14:50, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Note the article that was assessed for GA was the version from September 2009 which looked very different to the article today (my changes today have actually brought it back a little bit closer to the 2009 version as I took out a lot of fluff): https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urban_heat_island&oldid=313565723 EMsmile (talk) 14:50, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I removed a bit of climate denial from the article (using an MDPI source to make a strong claim..), not a good sign. The geographic bias is a neutrality issue, and the article still has quite a few outdated aspects, so I think a GAR may still be warrented. If you explain well how the article does not line up with the criteria, there is only little expectation of remaining engaged. —Femke 🐦 (talk) 19:01, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Would it be a strong enough argument to say that 14 years is a long time and the current version is very different to the version that was reviewed in 2009? I guess that is not in the criteria list. But I think it would fail this one: "it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail". Although perhaps once I have finished with my culling and condensing activities it will be closer on the mark for that. EMsmile (talk) 10:09, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes if you do a GAR that would be great I think - for example it might prompt someone to add the 3 cites needed Chidgk1 (talk) 11:07, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, I don't have time at the moment to give this article more TLC at the moment. I think the current GA label ought to be removed as it's changed so much since 2009 and 14 years is a very long time. Then someone could start a new GAR to try and get the label back (which may or may not be very time consuming, I am not sure). EMsmile (talk) 16:58, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
 * EMsmile, you may find the GAR-helper script at WP:GAR helpful to nominate at GAR to propose the label is removed. Afterwards, the article will have to go through WP:GAN again to get the label back. —Femke 🐦 (talk) 17:21, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Tried script and yes it saves a little time and fiddle thanks Chidgk1 (talk) 17:50, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Update: it's delisted now. EMsmile (talk) 09:00, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

Transport infrastructure
Hi User:Buidhe, you made an important observation in the GA review discussion above: "Another issue with this article is coverage. A major cause of the effect is not cities per se but the large concentrations of cars (particularly ICEs) and car infrastructure (parking lots, roads, and other paved areas). The article barely mentions this."

I've now added two sentences from this ref to the "causes" section but feel free to expand on this, perhaps with an additional, more general source (as that source was specific to Phoenix). Thanks. EMsmile (talk) 11:45, 3 July 2023 (UTC)