Xue et al. (2026) Humidity boundary conditions reshape nighttime heat burden during heatwaves in China

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-24
• Authors: Luyu Xue, Yulin Dong, Zhibin Ren, Jingnan Li
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae9d98

Research Groups

• Institute for Climate and Weather Research, University of Beijing
• Department of Meteorology, University of Shanghai
• National Center for Atmospheric Science, China Meteorological Administration

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of humidity extremes on nighttime heat burden during heatwaves in mainland China, revealing significant urban-context associations that depend on humidity state and nighttime heat-burden dimension.

Objective

• Investigate how humidity extremes within heatwaves organize nighttime heat-burden dimensions and modulate these patterns under different urban contexts

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Mainland China (2427 stations)
• Temporal Scale: 1960 to 2020 (61 years)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Day-to-night transfer framework developed using station-specific data
• Data sources: Station observations, heatwave subevents classified from daily maximum air temperature and specific humidity extremes

Main Results

• HH events had the highest nighttime heat burden with NATmax of 28.5 °C, HNcts of 2.7, and CNRD of 19.7 °C
• Urban-nonurban contrasts were strongest under DH events (clearest)
• HNcts accelerated nonlinearly in the upper daytime apparent-temperature range
• Surface thermal state was the most consistent covariate domain

Contributions

• Refine understanding of urban heat island effects on nighttime heat risk, showing that magnitude and direction depend on humidity state and nighttime heat-burden dimension
• Provide new insights into hydrothermal associations involved in HH recovery deficits

Funding

• National Key Research and Development Program (2018YFC1507200)
• Natural Science Foundation of China (41875053)

Citation

@article{Xue2026Humidity,
  author = {Xue, Luyu and Dong, Yulin and Ren, Zhibin and Li, Jingnan},
  title = {Humidity boundary conditions reshape nighttime heat burden during heatwaves in China},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/ae9d98},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae9d98}
}