Theory 17/Hysteresis & Memory/Urban climate
Cities Store Heat
The claim
Urban heat follows a hysteresis loop between day and night, so the same air temperature produces different surface temperatures depending on whether the city is heating or cooling.
01Mechanism
Building mass stores heat during the day and releases it at night; the thermal state lags the forcing.
02Prediction
Surface temperature should differ at equal air temperature by time of day.
03Refutation
Surface tracking air temperature without lag would remove the storage.