Trees play a bigger role in cooling down cities than scientists previously realized. But they could struggle to block the heat as the planet continues to warm.
A new study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, finds that tree cover is vital to offsetting the urban heat island effect — a phenomenon in which cities, densely populated and filled with concrete, tend to be hotter than the rural areas surrounding them.
Urban tree cover worldwide mitigates nearly half of the extra heat cities accumulate compared to the nearby countryside, the research found.
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“That was the good news of the study,” said Rob McDonald, a scientist at The Nature Conservancy who co-authored the study. “We were pleasantly surprised.”
