Irrespective of the impacts of climate change, it is anticipated that our cities will get hotter by around one degree per decade. Why? Because our cities often seem like concrete jungles that trap summer heat, and create oven-like conditions that are up to five degrees hotter than the surrounding rural areas. We’ve created this phenomenon, known as the “urban heat island effect” with our dark colored roofs, walls, roads and even cars, and with our diminishing number of shading trees and heat-absorbing greenery. There are steps we can take to cool our cities. The most obvious way is to increase the number of plants and trees in our urban communities.
Read the entire article here: Under a Green Umbrella