Temperature Change in the Largest Industrial City, Korea

Abstract

This study analyzed a change trend of ambient temperature over the last sixty years in the largest industrial city in Korea, Ulsan. Linear warming rates in Ulsan over the last 25 (1985 to 2009), 40 (1970 to 2009), and 60 (1950 to 2009) years were 0.0507, 0.0416, and 0.0277°C/yr, respectively. The annual average temperature (AAT) and the annual average of the daily lowest temperature (AADLT) in Ulsan increased 1.3 and 2.9°C, respectively, over the last fifty years (1960 to 2009). The increasing slopes of the AAT and AADLT over the fifty years in Ulsan were higher or much higher than those in neighboring cities and on a global scale. In the comparison analysis of daily average temperature over the most recent ten years, the highest (15.9°C) was observed in the industrial area followed by the downtown, coastal, suburban, and rural areas with 14.6, 14.5, 14.0, and 12.8°C, respectively. The number of cold days less than 5.0°C decreased, while the number of hot days higher than 20.0°C increased. The decreasing slopes in the cold days in lower latitude cities were steeper than those in higher latitude cities in Korea.