Sunday, May 12, 2013

Planting trees to combat rising temperatures ... and then there's Louisville.

Here's your takeaway line:

Aggressive tree planting and maintenance programs are actually one of the most cost-effective measures a city can take to deal with rising temperatures, which pose the most significant immediate public health threat related to climate change.

And here's the rest of the story.

There Are Few Trees in Louisville, America’s Fastest Warming City, by Sarah Goodyear (Next City)

... The tree cover in Louisville’s larger metro area is around 30 percent, according to Stone’s research, with the urban core at just 10 percent. That compares to about 45 percent in the city of Atlanta.

And that lack of greenery — unlike Ohio River Valley weather patterns or global warming — is something that Louisville’s municipal leaders could change.

“It’s at least part rooted in policy,” Stone said. “It’s one of the only major cities in the United States that doesn’t have a tree ordinance.”

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