Give three causes of the urban heat island.

Building materials absorbing and re-radiating heat, waste heat from buildings, industry and vehicles, and reduced evaporative cooling from the lack of vegetation and open water.

Explain how buildings alter wind in a city.

Tall buildings increase surface roughness so average wind speed falls, but they also channel air along streets and around corners, producing locally violent gusts.

What is the canyon effect?

The canyon effect is the funnelling and acceleration of wind along a street lined by tall buildings on both sides.

WJEC A-Level Geography 601-8455-3

Coastal Landscapes

Glaciated Landscapes

Topic overview The glacier as an open system Climate change and the glacier budget Glacier movement Types of ice mass and their distribution Glacial weathering and erosion processes Macro-scale erosional landforms Glacial transport and depositional landforms Fluvioglacial landforms Suites of landforms in glacial landscapes Periglacial processes and ground ice Periglacial action of water and wind Glacial change over different timescales Glacial environments and human activity

Tectonic Hazards

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Changing Places

Topic overview What gives a place its character Flows and connections that shape places Meaning, perception and attachment to place How places are represented Economic restructuring and the Clark Fisher model Deindustrialisation and social inequality The service economy and its impacts The knowledge economy and clusters Rebranding rural places Managing change in rural places Rebranding urban places Managing change in urban places Comparing a home place with a contrasting place How place change affects people's lives

Water and Carbon Cycles

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Global Migration

Topic overview Globalisation and a shrinking world Classifying and mapping migration Causes of international economic migration Consequences and management of economic migration Refugee movements and internal displacement Rural-urban migration in developing countries Superpowers and global hub cities Migration policy and public debate in the UK Managing refugee crises Informal settlements in developing cities

Global Governance of the Oceans

Topic overview Supranational institutions and global governance Laws and agreements governing the oceans Strategic value of the oceans and maritime security Shipping, cables and illicit flows Sovereignty over ocean resources Managing marine environments Ocean pollution and its management Governance across scales: an ocean case study

EcosystemsContemporary theme

Topic overview The value of ecosystems to people The distribution of global biomes Ecosystem structure, energy flow and productivity Nutrient cycling in contrasting biomes Measuring and threatening biodiversity Conserving biodiversity Succession and local ecosystems The Arctic tundra biome Sustainable use of the Arctic tundra

Economic Growth and Challenge: IndiaContemporary theme

Topic overview India's relief, drainage and climate India's population, society and governance India's resources, hazards and economic geography India's global role and economic growth Environmental pressures of India's growth Sustainable development strategies in India

Economic Growth and Challenge: ChinaContemporary theme

Topic overview China's relief, drainage and climate China's population, society and governance China's resources, hazards and economic geography China's global role and economic growth Environmental pressures of China's growth Sustainable development strategies in China

Development in an African ContextContemporary theme

Topic overview Defining and measuring development Physical factors influencing development Economic factors influencing development Political, social and cultural factors in development The environmental cost of development Desertification Strategies to promote development

Energy Challenges and DilemmasContemporary theme

Topic overview Classifying and distributing energy resources Physical factors in energy supply The changing demand for energy Managing oil and gas globally Problems of extraction, transport and use Energy mixes and development Sustainable solutions to energy demand

Weather and ClimateContemporary theme

Topic overview Structure of the atmosphere and the heat budget Global atmospheric and oceanic circulation The world's major climate types Weather and climate of Wales and the UK Extreme weather and ENSO Hazards of low and high pressure systems Urban climates and air quality People, climate and the future

Fieldwork and Geographical Skills

Topic overview The six-stage enquiry process Sampling and data collection Presenting geographical data Statistical analysis of geographical data Fieldwork techniques and apparatus Map skills: grid references, latitude and longitude, scale and direction

Key Concepts in Geography

Topic overview Systems, equilibrium and feedback Causality, interdependence and mitigation Resilience, risk and sustainability Place, space, scale and representation

Weather and Climate

Urban climates and air quality

3 things to know
A2 Unit 4

Overview

Urban heat island, how buildings alter wind in a city and canyon effect.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

Define the urban heat island.

Key term

Explain why the urban heat island is strongest at night and in calm conditions.

Key term

How much warmer than its surroundings can a large city be?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Define the urban heat island.
Model answer
The urban heat island is the tendency for a city to be warmer than the surrounding countryside, especially at night.
2
Give three causes of the urban heat island.
Model answer
Building materials absorbing and re-radiating heat, waste heat from buildings, industry and vehicles, and reduced evaporative cooling from the lack of vegetation and open water.
3
Explain why the urban heat island is strongest at night and in calm conditions.
Model answer
Concrete and brick release stored heat slowly after dark, and without wind that warm air is not mixed away or replaced by rural air.
4
How much warmer than its surroundings can a large city be?
Model answer
Commonly several degrees, and under calm clear conditions the difference can exceed 5°C.
5
Explain how buildings alter wind in a city.
Model answer
Tall buildings increase surface roughness so average wind speed falls, but they also channel air along streets and around corners, producing locally violent gusts.
6
What is the canyon effect?
Model answer
The canyon effect is the funnelling and acceleration of wind along a street lined by tall buildings on both sides.

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