Could the next wave in air conditioning be trees?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
With climate change, the risk of heat waves in cities continues to rise. Urban green spaces can help cool cities. Think parks and tree-lined streets. But what green spaces are most effective?
Enter Prashant Kumar from the University of Surrey and team.
Data from about two hundred papers determined the cooling power of different green spaces. These include parks, gardens, street trees, and bodies of water.
Results?
The most effectively cooling green spaces include botanical gardens, wetlands, and green walls. Botanical gardens and wetlands can cool surrounding areas by almost five degrees celsius. Even smaller green spaces, like street trees and vegetated balconies, are also effective. These can cool the air by almost four degrees!
This highlights the impressive cooling power of urban green spaces! City planners and policymakers can use this to reduce overheating in cities.
Who knew the park could be so COOL?!
Reference:Kumar, P., Debele, S. E., Khalili, S., Halios, C. H., Sahani, J., Aghamohammadi, N., Andrade, M. de F., Athanassiadou, M., Bhui, K., Calvillo, N., Cao, S.-J., Coulon, F., Edmondson, J. L., Fletcher, D., Dias de Freitas, E., Guo, H., Hort, M. C., Katti, M., Kjeldsen, T. R., … Jones, L. (2024). Urban heat mitigation by green and blue infrastructure: Drivers, effectiveness, and future needs. The Innovation, 5(2), 100588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588