89th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting

Thursday, 15 January 2009
Trends in urban seasonal and annual mean temperature from 1973-2002 in the continental United States: Is there a human factor?
Hall 5 (Phoenix Convention Center)
Steven B. Newman, Central Connecticut State Univ., New Britain, CT
Seasonal and annual mean temperatures from 1973-2002 have been analyzed for 30 urban locations throughout the continental United States. These locations have been divided into six geographic regions. Within each region, all locations have shown a positive trend over the 30-year period, both seasonally and annually. However, the greatest positive changes appear to be in those cities which are among the fastest growing (in terms of population) in the United States. This may be interpreted as evidence (at least on a local scale) that human activities do, indeed, have a profound effect on temperature change.

Supplementary URL: