Representing the Urban Heat Island Effect in Future Climates

An increasing fraction of people living in urban areas and the expected increase in long lasting heat waves highlight the important role of urban climates in terms of future climate change impacts especially with relation to the heat-health sector (e.g. Fischer, Schär 2010; IPCC 2013; Ragettli et al. 2017). Due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect and its (generally) increased intensity during nighttime, people living in urban areas happen to be more affected by heat-related discomfort and health risks than those in non-urban regions, mainly during the night (e.g. Gabriel, Endlicher 2011). In the present thesis, temperatures of both rural and urban sites (station couples) in Switzerland and Southern Germany are analyzed, using (i) observed and (ii) bias-corrected and downscaled climate model data for daily minimum (tmin) and daily maximum temperature (tmax) to account for the UHI in future climates.