London’s mayor announced a new 2 million tree plan to help fight climate change and keep Londoners cool.
The plan is designed to counteract the “urban heat island effect” in which urban areas absorb and release more heat than surrounding areas, due to having more pavement, traffic and power demand.
The mayor’s environmental adviser expressed concern over London’s rising ambient temperature, prompting the new plan. Climate projections have shown that average summer temperatures in London could be some 3.9C higher than today by 2080, and as much as 6C to 10C on the hottest days, reports The Guardian.
But by significantly increasing greenery throughout the city, those warming trends could be offset. Studies have shown that a 10% increase in London greenery would be required to completely counteract the heat, but in typical political fashion, the 2 million more trees planned for London would only increase tree cover by half of that. Still, it’s a good start and an important first step.
Other measures are also being encouraged and considered, such as including more green roofs for buildings, and possibly paying homeowners to recycle.
Source: The Guardian
Image Credit: james_jhs on Flickr under a CC License
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Bryan Nelson
Bryan Nelson has been making up for lost time since finishing his graduate degree in Philosophy by traveling and working to change the world. He has worked with groups like The Sierra Club, Environment America & U.S. PIRG, Environment Oregon & OSPIRG, and Progressive Future on local and national political campaigns. His environmental journalism can be found throughout the web, which also includes regular contributions to MNN.com. Between adventure and activism, he currently can be found doing freelance writing from his home in Portland, Oregon.
2 Responses to London to Plant 2 Million Trees by 2025
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[...] He walked across the country with his walking stick, and a bucket of seeds, just walking and planting as he went. Everywhere he went, apple trees sprouted up. And he was a hero. It is such a hero that Yosemite is [...]
I think its a great idea…
I think an even better idea would be to use CRP land – Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – here in the USA and ALR land – Agricultural Land Reserve- in Canada to grow forests, instead of paying farmers to not farm the land, they should let them plant trees on the land instead. There is plenty of CRP in my area and it just grows grass and shrubs… Trees would be a lot better.