Heat maps show cities became 'urban heat islands' as temperatures in parts of Europe soared in June

The slightest mention of a heatwave in the UK means ice cream sells out, grills heat up and shorts are dusted off as the nation celebrates.

In June of this year, air temperatures rose to over 33°C (90°F) in parts of the country, while sharp rises were also felt in Europe, the US and Asia.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, many cities have recorded air temperatures more than 18°F (10°C) above the seasonal average.

But new heatmaps released by the European Space Agency (ESA) show that may not be cause for celebration.

They show that heat dissipates more slowly in urban areas, creating ‘heat islands’ and making life a struggle.

Experts fear that this effect will intensify as climate change progresses.

An instrument on board the International Space Station has recorded recent land surface temperature extremes for Milan, Paris and Prague.

The instrument is called ECOSTRESS and is owned by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

It provides geospatial information to help plan and manage water resources for future heat waves.

The cityscapes captured by ECOSTRESS show land surface temperatures in Milan, Paris and Prague on June 18 in the early afternoon.

Land surface temperature differs from air temperature, as the latter is given in weather forecasts and is a measure of how hot the air is above the earth.

ECOSTRESS measures how hot the actual earth’s surface would feel.

This serves as a better indicator of how heat rising from the Earth’s surface affects weather and climate patterns.

An urban heat island occurs when an urban area experiences warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas where there is more vegetation.

This is because natural ground cover, such as vegetation, has been replaced with surfaces that do not absorb or retain heat, such as sidewalks and buildings.

The ECOSTRESS images show how hot the surface was in built-up parts of the city and the cooling effect of grassy parkland, vegetation and water.

Glynn Hulley, a physicist at JPL, said: “ECOSTRESS continues to chart the effects of extreme heat in cities around the world, including the recent heatwaves that broke records in both Europe and the US.

“This data can be used to identify hotspots and vulnerable regions and to assess the impact of heat mitigation approaches on cooling.”

On several consecutive days in mid-June, air temperatures exceeded 40 °C in many European cities.

Air temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) were recorded in Tokyo, Japan for five consecutive days.

This was the worst documented June heatwave since records began in 1875.

Over in the US, as of June 15, almost a third of the population was under some form of heat warning.

The world has already warmed by about 1.1°C (1.98°F) since the Industrial Revolution, and this will continue to increase unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that it is almost certain that the intensity and duration of heat waves have increased worldwide since 1950.

Experts largely agreed that this is the result of man-made climate change and that the past month is a reminder of what is to come.

ECOSTRESS also simulates data provided during the future Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) mission of a new Copernicus Sentinel satellite.

The LSTM will provide systematic measurements of land surface temperature using a thermal infrared sensor.

The data will help land planners and farmers to understand and respond to climate variability, for example by managing water resources and forecasting droughts.

Both NASA and ESA are working together to provide an answer to climate change through their separate monitoring missions.

The NASA-ESA Framework Agreement for a Strategic Partnership in Earth System Science was signed last month.

ESA’s Benjamin Koetz said: “The instrument is proving extremely valuable in the development and preparation of the European LSTM mission, which will provide land surface temperature data at a similar resolution of 50m.

“The main objective of LSTM, to be introduced towards the end of the decade, is to respond to the needs of European farmers to make agricultural production more sustainable in the face of increasing water scarcity and to help farmers get more ‘crop for the drop ” to achieve.

“However, it is evident that we are all experiencing more heat waves, and LSTM will also be important in helping authorities to address the serious problem of urban heat islands by monitoring cities’ microclimates.”