Simulating the Regional Impacts of Urbanization and Anthropogenic Heat Release on Climate across China

TLDR

Rapid urbanization and large‑scale energy consumption in China generate significant anthropogenic heat, a key driver of regional climate change. The study uses the WRF–UCM model to simulate how urbanization‑induced surface changes (USCU) and anthropogenic heat release (AHR) affect climate across China. Three WRF–UCM experiments from December 2006 to December 2008 examined the separate and combined impacts of USCU and AHR. USCU reduces surface albedo and soil moisture, AHR raises surface temperatures, and together they can raise temperatures by up to 2 °C in the Yangtze River delta, alter the surface energy budget by increasing sensible heat and changing latent heat fluxes, and shift precipitation—raising it in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and lowering it in the delta—with stronger AHR effects in winter and stronger USCU effects in summer.

Abstract

Abstract Together with economic development and accelerated urbanization, the urban population in China has been increasing rapidly, and anthropogenic heat released by large-scale energy consumption in cities is expected to be a vital factor affecting the climate. In this paper, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the Urban Canopy Model (UCM) is employed to simulate the regional impacts on climate under the two scenarios: the underlying surface changes due to urbanization (USCU) and anthropogenic heat release (AHR). Three experiments were performed from December 2006 to December 2008. With respect to the USCU, the surface albedo and the available surface soil water decrease markedly. With the inclusion of AHR, the two scenarios give rise to increased surface temperatures over most areas of China. Especially in the urban agglomeration area of the Yangtze River delta, the combination of USCU and AHR could result in an increase of 2°C in the surface air temperature. The influence of AHR on surface air temperature in winter is greater than the influence of USCU without considering any extra sources of heat, but the opposite is found in summer. The combination of USCU and AHR leads to changes in the surface energy budget. They both increase sensible heat flux, but USCU decreases latent heat flux significantly, and AHR increases latent heat flux slightly. Nevertheless, under the influence of these two scenarios, the precipitation increases in some areas, especially in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, while it decreases in other areas, most notably the Yangtze River delta.