KUALA LUMPUR (July 8): The sharp increase in the number of vehicles on roads in the Federal capital of late may result in the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, whereby temperatures in the city are warmer than in the suburbs.

Director of the Centre for Innovative Planning and Development, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Professor Dr Muhammad Zaly Shah Muhammad Hussein said the phenomenon was aggravated by densely-constructed buildings and paved road surfaces which can form an island of trapped heat in a locality.