Urbanization accelerates urban warming by changing wind speed: Evidence from China based on 2421 meteorological stations from 1978 to 2017

Understanding the process and mechanism underlying urbanization's effect on urban warming is essential to future urban development planning. This study aims to measure the impact of urbanization on urban warming and dynamically analyze its meteorological drivers (wind speed and precipitation). According to remote sensing based impervious surface data, 2421 meteorological stations in China in 1978–2017 were dynamically classified into urban and rural stations. Then, correlation analysis was used to explore the effect and mechanism of urbanization on meteorological differences between urban and rural areas. The positive effect of urbanization on urban warming was 0.02 °C (0.26 °C) per decade during the period of 1988–2017 (2008–2017), and the contribution of urbanization to urban warming increased from 58.74% to 61.21% between the two periods. In 59.7% of cities, urbanization drove urban warming by changing wind speed. In 80.95% of cities, when wind speed decreased, the temperature difference between urban and rural areas increased. When wind speed was higher, the positive contribution of urbanization to urban warming was more significant. Considering the urban ventilation environment during urban planning and renewal will improve the local climate and reduce climate risks. •Dynamic classification method was proposed to distinguish urban and rural stations.•There were significant increases in temperature trends in both urban and rural areas.•Urbanization exacerbated the temperature difference between urban and rural areas.•Urbanization drove urban warming by changing wind speed in 59.7% of cities.