Canals Cool Down Cities During Heatwaves – New Research

Canals can help cool your neighbourhood during heatwaves, study finds

While canals are found widely throughout UK and Irish cities, reflecting the legacy of the Industrial Revolution, their role in combating urban heating had been largely unknown

Canals cool down cities during heatwaves – new research

A canal boat moored on the Regent's Canal in London. BBA Photography/ShutterstockCanals in Great Britain and Ireland cool city neighbourhoods up to 50 metres from their banks, particularly during heatwaves. That’s the key finding of our new research which modelled the impact of canals on urban temperatures – quantifying their importance for the millions of people who live and work nearby. While canals are found widely throughout UK and Irish cit…

Study maps how canals affect temperatures across cities nationwide

A new national-scale study suggests that canals may be more than historic transport corridors or picturesque features of urban landscapes: they could also help moderate city temperatures. Research published in Nature Communications examines how canals influence heat across built-up areas, offering one of the broadest assessments yet of the cooling potential of urban waterways. The findings arrive as cities face increasingly frequent heatwaves, r…

Urban canals can cut temperatures by more than 2°C during heatwaves

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…