Satellites pinpoint drivers of urban heat islands in northeastern U.S.

The size, background ecology, and development patterns of major northeastern cities combine to make them unusually warm, according to NASA scientists. Summer land surface temperatures of cities in the Northeast were an average of 13°F to 16°F (7°C to 9°C) warmer than surrounding rural areas over a three year period, the new research shows. The complex phenomenon that drives up temperatures of cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. is called the urban heat island effect.

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