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In this study, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land cover, land surface temperature (LST), and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) data were used to investigate the trends of surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII, urban LST minus rural LST) and their relations with vegetation in 397 global big cities during 2001-2017. Major findings include the following: (1) Annual daytime and nighttime SUHII increased significantly (p < 0.05, Mann-Kendall trend test) in 42.1% and 30.5% cities, respectively. (2) The daytime SUHII in the growing season was significantly and positively correlated with rural EVI in 58.9% cities. This is because high rural EVI can increase the EVI difference between urban and rural areas. (3) Rural greening contributed 22.5% of the increased daytime SUHII in the growing season at the global scale. This study highlights that the effect of greening in rural areas was a significant and widespread driver for the increased daytime SUHII.

Plain Language Summary Surface urban heat island (SUHI) refers to higher land surface temperature (LST) in urban than in rural areas. The increased SUHI intensity (urban LST minus rural) was mainly attributed to increased anthropogenic heat emission and built-up areas and reductions in vegetation in urban areas in the literature. However, this study showed that the increased vegetation (i.e., greening) in rural areas was a significant and widespread driver for the increased daytime SUHI intensity around the world during 2001-2017. The implication of this study is that urban LST may increase much faster than rural LST in future global warming.