Abstract
This study addresses a classic sustainability challenge-the tradeoff between water conservation and temperature amelioration in rapidly growing cities, using Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon as case studies. An urban energy balance model-LUMPS (Local-Scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme)-is used to represent the tradeoff between outdoor water use and nighttime cooling during hot, dry summer months. Tradeoffs were characterized under three scenarios of land use change and three climate-change assumptions. Decreasing vegetation density reduced outdoor water use but sacrificed nighttime cooling. Increasing vegetated surfaces accelerated nighttime cooling, but increased outdoor water use by ~20%. Replacing impervious surfaces with buildings achieved similar improvements in nighttime cooling with minimal increases in outdoor water use; it was the most water-efficient cooling strategy. The fact that nighttime cooling rates and outdoor water use were more sensitive to land use scenarios than climate-change simulations suggested that cities can adapt to a warmer climate by manipulating land use.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1030-1054 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | Urban Geography |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1 2012 |
Keywords
- climate change
- sustainability
- temperature amelioration
- urban heat island
- water conservation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Urban Studies