Jump To:

• heat island
  heat island

  noun

  an urban area having a higher average temperature than its rural surroundings owing to the greater absorption, retention, and generation of heat by its buildings, pavements, and human activities.
• heat-island
  heat-island

  noun

  meteorol the mass of air over a large city, characteristically having a slightly higher average temperature than that of the surrounding air

heat island

American  

[heet ahy-luhnd] / ˈhit ˌaɪ lənd /

noun

1. an urban area having a higher average temperature than its rural surroundings owing to the greater absorption, retention, and generation of heat by its buildings, pavements, and human activities.

---

heat-island British  

noun

1. meteorol the mass of air over a large city, characteristically having a slightly higher average temperature than that of the surrounding air

---

Etymology

Origin of heat island

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heat island heat-island

This is the urban heat island effect and it is at its most dangerous in the early hours when bodies need cooler air and cannot find it.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

And they would add crucial green space to reduce the heat island effect, she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Urban green spaces provide shade for city dwellers facing rising temperatures brought on by climate change, but how much relief from the heat island effect do they provide when humidity is factored in?

From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024

Today, they are “rocking and thriving, even in that windy, harsh, heat island of a location.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2024

Ruese also suggested that local leaders improve urban infrastructure so that it reduces heat, and in particular the urban heat island effect.

From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2024

And artificial turf is disproportionately installed to replace private lawns and public landscaping in economically disadvantaged communities that already face the greatest consequences of the urban heat-island effect, in which hard surfaces raise local temperatures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2024

But it does not begin to abate the larger heat-island effect created by the six-lane roadway it stands next to.

From Slate ● May 22, 2023

“As the population increases in these megacities, you have more buildings, more concrete and an increased heat-island effect, making the heat waves worse,” Coumou said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2021

The main problem driving the so-called "heat-island effect" is tall buildings.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2021

In cities, concrete also adds to the heat-island effect by absorbing the warmth of the sun and trapping gases from car exhausts and air-conditioner units – though it is, at least, better than darker asphalt.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 25, 2019