Urban Communities That Lack Shade Sizzle When It’s Hot. Trees Are A Climate Change Solution.
a Smart Surfaces Coalition feature
Along a busy road in west Detroit, there’s little respite from the sun for residents stopping for gasoline, attending places of worship or bringing children to daycare. But a budding canopy of trees planted this year will change the look and feel of this corridor.
Detroit and other cities are adding trees and green spaces as one way to blunt the impact of warmer average temperatures and heat waves that are longer and hotter due to climate change.
The United Nations is urging governments, institutions and investors to prioritize sustainable cooling solutions that don’t further warm the planet, including planting trees for shade and using reflective building materials. The U.N. Environment Programme and the International Finance Corporation issued a report Wednesday on financing these solutions for the developing world during U.N. General Assembly meetings.
The cost of planting and maintenance is the major obstacle for most greening projects, said Daniel Metzger, a fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Where a project is transforming previously paved space, removing asphalt or concrete is generally the biggest expense, he said.
Urban areas often bear the brunt of harmful health and environmental effects from heat waves. It’s hotter in urban areas than surrounding suburbs — the “urban heat island” effect — because of abundant heat-absorbing surfaces. Trees and vegetation provide shade while lowering surface and air temperatures.
Increasing a city’s tree canopy by 10% lowers the temperature by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius), according to the Smart Surfaces Coalition. The coalition helps cities integrate cool roofs, green roofs, solar, porous pavement and urban trees.
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