Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Urban heat islands in Ho Chi Minh City and other largecities in Vietnam are causing heat waves with some of the highest recordedtemperatures ever in the country, affecting public health.
TheCentre for Regional and Urban Studies said this year is forecast to be thehottest ever since temperatures began to be recorded in 1880.
In largecities like HCM City and Hanoi, temperatures reached 40-50 degrees Celsius inMarch and April.
Dr. DuongThi Thuy Nga, head of the department of environmental informatics at theVietnam National University HCM City-University of Science, said temperaturesin several central areas in HCM City were higher than in the outskirts andrural areas.
Speakingat a forum on urban heat islands held in the city earlier this week, she said:“Because the former has a lower vegetation cover index than the latter.”
In urbanareas, high-storey buildings block winds and reduce convection, she said.
Theincreasing number of people and vehicles and the CO2 they discharge contributeto urban heat islands, she added.
A studydone by researchers at the HCM City University of Technology found that thesurface temperature difference in the city had increased between 1995 and 2015and in that period the total area of heat islands has increased four-fold.
Anextreme heat island in the inner city has an area approximately 18 percent ofthe city.
Theresearchers extracted the surface temperatures in the city’s north from Landsatsatellite.
Nga said:“The urban heat island has affected people’s health and economic developmentand tourism in the city. A clean and beautiful city with a lot of green spacesis always attractive.”
Moreover,when it is very hot, people feel tired and their productivity is reduced, shesaid.
A systemfor monitoring and analysing surface temperatures in the city should be set upfor authorities and people to realize the changes and seek solutions, sheadded.
Pham TranHai, deputy head of the department of urban management studies at the HCM CityInstitute for Development Studies, said many countries in the world face theproblem but have found solutions.
Singapore,for example, is increasing its open green spaces and planting more trees alonghigh-speed roads and streets to reduce urban temperatures, he said.
The greencoverage rate in Singapore is 56 percent while in HCM City it is 18 percent, hesaid.
In Mayseveral public buses with plants installed on their roofs, claimed to be thefirst in Asia, began plying there.
Greenroofs and green walls are common in Singapore and these help reduce urban heatislands, Hai said.
It hasbeen subsidising the cost of these roofs and walls by 50 percent since 2009, hesaid.
Greenroofs should be installed on buildings in HCM City too because they also helpreduce the rain flowing down into the streets, he added.-VNS/VNA
TheCentre for Regional and Urban Studies said this year is forecast to be thehottest ever since temperatures began to be recorded in 1880.
In largecities like HCM City and Hanoi, temperatures reached 40-50 degrees Celsius inMarch and April.
Dr. DuongThi Thuy Nga, head of the department of environmental informatics at theVietnam National University HCM City-University of Science, said temperaturesin several central areas in HCM City were higher than in the outskirts andrural areas.
Speakingat a forum on urban heat islands held in the city earlier this week, she said:“Because the former has a lower vegetation cover index than the latter.”
In urbanareas, high-storey buildings block winds and reduce convection, she said.
Theincreasing number of people and vehicles and the CO2 they discharge contributeto urban heat islands, she added.
A studydone by researchers at the HCM City University of Technology found that thesurface temperature difference in the city had increased between 1995 and 2015and in that period the total area of heat islands has increased four-fold.
Anextreme heat island in the inner city has an area approximately 18 percent ofthe city.
Theresearchers extracted the surface temperatures in the city’s north from Landsatsatellite.
Nga said:“The urban heat island has affected people’s health and economic developmentand tourism in the city. A clean and beautiful city with a lot of green spacesis always attractive.”
Moreover,when it is very hot, people feel tired and their productivity is reduced, shesaid.
A systemfor monitoring and analysing surface temperatures in the city should be set upfor authorities and people to realize the changes and seek solutions, sheadded.
Pham TranHai, deputy head of the department of urban management studies at the HCM CityInstitute for Development Studies, said many countries in the world face theproblem but have found solutions.
Singapore,for example, is increasing its open green spaces and planting more trees alonghigh-speed roads and streets to reduce urban temperatures, he said.
The greencoverage rate in Singapore is 56 percent while in HCM City it is 18 percent, hesaid.
In Mayseveral public buses with plants installed on their roofs, claimed to be thefirst in Asia, began plying there.
Greenroofs and green walls are common in Singapore and these help reduce urban heatislands, Hai said.
It hasbeen subsidising the cost of these roofs and walls by 50 percent since 2009, hesaid.
Greenroofs should be installed on buildings in HCM City too because they also helpreduce the rain flowing down into the streets, he added.-VNS/VNA
VNA