Wyatt: Beat the heat; plant a tree

STORY: U.S. conservationist says global cooperation important for desert ecosystems amid climate changeDATELINE: July 23, 2023LENGTH: 00:03:18LOCATION: LOS ANGELES, U.S.CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT SHOTLIST:1. various of Joshua trees2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): KELLY HERBINSON, Co-Executive Director o…

I have friends who argue with each other about climate change, but both find agreement with the fact that it’s been unbearably hot the past few weeks.

With July in the books, the World Meteorological Organization says we have just witnessed the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. Contrary to some, I’ve heard misstating the previous sentence to say “it’s the hottest it’s ever been.” The operative word here is “recorded.”

While there are continuous temperature records in central England dating back to 1659, scientists tell us that the data becomes complete enough after 1880 for them to estimate average temperatures for the entire planet.

So unofficially, we’ve lived through the hottest month in over 140 years.

I was covering an event the other week in the middle of the day in an asphalt-paved parking lot when a colleague of mine, with her dog, left abruptly.

“I think my dog’s feet got hot,” she said.

Other dogs have paws, but the dogs of owners like myself and my colleague, have feet.

Myself, my colleague and her dog, and over 30 other people at the event were in the middle of something called the “urban heat island” effect.

This occurs when you are in the midst of an area that lacks vegetation and shade, and has an increase in paved surfaces and buildings, causing temperatures to rise as much as 20 degrees compared to other areas around it.

While there is no definitive percentage, we’ll go with the high end of the estimate and say that 2% of the world’s land mass is urban, but when you consider 85% of the world’s population lives within this 2%, putting a dent in these urban heat islands can make a massive difference for the majority of us.

Take New Orleans, for instance, where they are practicing a simple solution to the problem by planting hundreds of trees throughout the city.

The shade of one tree can bring the temperature of the surfaces it protects down anywhere from 20 to 45 degrees, according to an ABC News article that reported on the research from the Energy and Buildings Journal.

And the Environmental Protection Agency says in addition to the lower surface and air temperatures, trees save energy, improve air quality, and aid in stormwater management.

The goal of the New Orleans Reforestation Plan is to plant enough trees to create a tree canopy that covers at least 10% of the urban landscape.

For the budget-conscious city council and board of supervisors in Martinsville and Henry County, respectively, take note that the Journal of Forestry says for every tree that costs $15 to $65, you can expect to see annual benefits of $30 to $90 per tree. That’s not a bad return on investment.

The Environmental Protection Agency even provides a guideline for breaking up the heat islands among us and the first solution it suggests is to increase the shade around your home by planting trees and other vegetation.

Another lesser applied suggestion is a green roof, or rooftop garden, where a vegetative layer is grown on a rooftop. If that sounds a bit radical, opt for a “cool roof”, using material that helps to reflect sunlight and heat away from your home instead of absorbing it.

The National Weather Service says in the U.S., heat kills more Americans than any other weather-related disaster, and the extremes, like July, make it even more deadly. They point out that heat deaths have outpaced hurricane deaths by more than eight to one in the last decade.

City officials in Louisville, Kentucky, recently awarded a $115,700 contract for a tree canopy assessment to help use trees to address urban heat. Communities can be transformed one project at a time by simply planting native, drought-tolerant shade trees and smaller plants such as shrubs, grasses, and groundcover wherever possible, according to the EPA.

I love the various beautification projects groups have undertaken recently, but let’s not forget the simple thing that we can do right now to have a positive impact on the heat: plant a tree.

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-591-7543. Follow him @billdwyatt.

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STORY: U.S. conservationist says global cooperation important for desert ecosystems amid climate changeDATELINE: July 23, 2023LENGTH: 00:03:18…