Presentation Title
Understanding Urban Heat at Large Scales in a Changing Climate
Time
15:00 - 16:00 PM, October 25, 2023 (Wednesday)
Contents
Cities are the primary places where humans perceive climate change. The warming effect from emitted greenhouse gas are exacerbated by the urban unique climate nature, such as urban heat island (UHI). Moreover, the urban areas are undergoing more extreme weather and risks under the superimposed effect of global and regional climate change as well as urbanization. They are high-risk zones for climate change impact, as being highly exposed and vulnerable with dense residents, concentrated buildings, traffic congestion and asset aggregation. Therefore, research on urban high temperature mechanisms, and on their climate change feedback mechanisms is crucial for cities to cope with climate change. By the methods of earth system modeling, theory, remote sensing and physics-based machine learning, the presentation will introduce cutting-edge advances in aspects including urban heat island causes, urban climate change prediction and its uncertainty, and assessment of urban public health and urban adaptation measures.
About the Honored Guest
Dr. Zhao Lei is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment (iSEE) and National Center for Supercomputer Applications. He received his doctorate in Atmospheric Physics from Yale University, and bachelor degree from Nanjing University. Before joining UIUC, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University.