Night temperature in Paris

Mean air temperature in Paris, France at 22:00 CESTin summer 2003. During that summer, large portions of Europe were struck by a major heat wave. Paris was affected severely because the urban heat island effect prevented the city from cooling during the night, leading to thousands of heat-related deaths. Modelling results suggest that in the future, heat waves of this intensity and duration might occur every 3–4 years. Thermal-infrared measurements from satellites continue to help us understand the dynamics of urban heat islands and their patterns within cities.