INVESTIGATION IN TO THE EFFECT OF URBANIZATION ON THE RATE OF TEMPERATURE CHANGE IN 4 REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Here I present an analysis of the long term trends in the relationships of urbanization and rate of temperature change in different biomes of the United States. It is not clear to what extent these areas are experiencing different climatic changes as global climate change continues to accelerate.

I examined paired metropolitan areas and rural areas in the NorthEast, Rocky Mountains, NorthWest, SouthWest and SouthEast United States. Specifically, I used NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) to compare the rates of surface temperature change in urban, vs rural areas for the period 1980 - 2023 as compared to the rates of temperature change in those same areas for the period 1940 - 1979. I also analyzed the correlation of the rate of temperature change ( as measured by the slope of the trendline) with the change in the area of developed land over the period 2001 - 2019.

For nearly all areas, temperatures were stable in the period 1950 - 1979. For nearly all areas, the period 1980-2024 showed an increase in surface temperature indicated by positive trend line slopes . Interestingly, some regions showed a greater increase in the slope of the temperature change in rural, vs urban areas. I attempted to identify whether a particular biome was more likely to see an urban cooling or urban heating effect.

Elucidating the relationship of urbanization and rate of temperature change has implications for adapting to climate change based extreme heat hazards.