New research from The University of Manchester has found that urban canals can cool their immediate surroundings by more than 2°C during heatwaves.
The study, which is believed to be the first to assess the cooling effects of urban canals at a national-scale, covering the urban canal network of Great Britain and Ireland, found that canals reduce surrounding daytime temperatures by an average of around 0.8°C. During heatwaves, however, the cooling effect increased to between 1.5°C and 2.3°C.
Researchers say the findings highlight the overlooked role that canals could play in climate adaptation as cities become hotter because of climate change.
Couple days ago I saw a post about putting solar panels over canals to reduce evaporation.
I feel like I know what the next news gonna be about urban canals…And percived heat is likely higher due to higher air humidity. Seems like a bad tradeoff.
But with raising sea levels some costal cities will become more like Venice if we like it or not.
Probably not, actually. Rather than having the chance to evaporate, most of the heat energy absorbed by the water will just get whisked downstream while being mixed into colder water and thus dissipated. Water can hold a LOT of energy before going through a phase change.
And the warmer it is in absolute terms, the more plants transpire, which means 2 degrees cooler may actually reduce the humidity in the local area.
Theres a river running through my town and standing next to it is drastically cooler than being at home a half mile away from said river. Especially when its humid.
