American scientists from the University of Texas at Austin discovered that large cities experience abnormal amounts of rainfall. The research was published in the scientific journal magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The team analyzed climate data from 1,056 cities around the world from 2001 to 2020.
“Overall, we found that more than 60% of these world cities receive more rainfall (than the surrounding rural areas). We then compared the data across different climate zones and found that if the local climate is warmer and wetter, the rainfall anomaly can be larger compared to cities in cooler, drier locations.”
The list of major cities with the largest rainfall anomalies includes Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Lagos (Nigeria), and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area (USA).
Scientists explained that urban areas tend to take rainwater from one place and concentrate it elsewhere.
There are several reasons why most cities receive more rainfall than rural suburbs. One important factor seems to be the presence of tall buildings that block or slow down the wind, causing the air to move towards the city centre.
However, there are exceptions to the rule. If a city is located in a plain or valley, it will receive less rainfall than the suburbs. This is typical for Seattle in the USA, Kyoto in Japan, and Jakarta in Indonesia.
Heavy rainfall combined with impermeable surfaces in cities can cause flash floods, researchers say.
Earlier scientists named Areas that may become uninhabitable for humans in the future due to extreme temperatures.
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Source: Gazeta
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