Frimpong Kwasi, Eugene Atiemo Darko, Van Etten E J
School of Governance and Public Services Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana.
School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Heliyon. 2022 Jul 2;8(7):e09791. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09791. eCollection 2022 Jul.
Climatic elements such as temperature and rainfall provide great and unquantifiable benefits to human health. However, rapid urban sprawl has the tendency to undermine these health consequences. The relationship between urban sprawl and microclimate in the Ga East Municipality has been assessed to present the extent of sprawl that inhibit temperature and rainfall in recent times. Methodologically, satellite imagery and meteorological data (minimum and maximum temperature and rainfall) from 1990 to 2020 were used. The results indicate that rapid urban sprawl in recent times has significantly undermined the local climate through land use and land cover changes. There was strong statistical relationships between temperature and built-up areas (p < 0.05), grass/shrub cover (p < 0.04) and all vegetation cover (p < 0.03). There was also strong statistical relationship between rainfall and built-up areas (p < 0.03), grass/shrub cover (p < 0.04) and all vegetation (p < 0.02). Thus, expansion in built up areas and reduced grass/shrub cover led to increases in temperature, rainfall and surface water run off while reduction in all vegetation led to increase in both temperature and rainfall. These changes in climate brought about by urban sprawl will affect crop production, increase cataclysmic floods as well as growth of some harmful insects. There is the need for the amalgamation of urban growth and climate change into spatial planning through an all-embracing approach.
温度和降雨等气候要素对人类健康有着巨大且难以量化的益处。然而，城市的快速扩张往往会削弱这些对健康的影响。为了呈现近期抑制温度和降雨的城市扩张程度，对加东市城市扩张与小气候之间的关系进行了评估。在方法上，使用了1990年至2020年的卫星图像和气象数据（最低和最高温度以及降雨量）。结果表明，近期城市的快速扩张通过土地利用和土地覆盖变化显著破坏了当地气候。温度与建成区（p < 0.05）、草地/灌木覆盖（p < 0.04）以及所有植被覆盖（p < 0.03）之间存在很强的统计关系。降雨量与建成区（p < 0.03）、草地/灌木覆盖（p < 0.04）以及所有植被（p < 0.02）之间也存在很强的统计关系。因此，建成区的扩张和草地/灌木覆盖的减少导致温度、降雨量和地表径流增加，而所有植被的减少导致温度和降雨量都增加。城市扩张带来的这些气候变化将影响农作物产量，增加灾难性洪水以及一些有害昆虫的滋生。有必要通过一种全面的方法将城市发展与气候变化纳入空间规划。
