Where trees are growing — and who has access to their shade — affects health and well-being, especially in one of the hottest states in the country.

Neighborhoods with more trees and green space stay cooler, while those coated with layers of asphalt swelter. Lower-income neighborhoods tend to be hottest, a city report found, and they have the least tree canopy.

The same is true in cities across the country, where poor and minority neighborhoods disproportionately suffer the consequences of rising temperatures. Research shows the temperatures in a single city, from Portland, Oregon, to Baltimore, can vary by up to 20 degrees. For a resident in a leafy suburb, a steamy summer day may feel uncomfortable. But for their friend a few neighborhoods over, it’s more than uncomfortable — it’s dangerous.

  • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world
    41·
    1 year ago

    Solar panels are significant infrastructure investments. Because you don’t just need the panels. You need wiring (possibly cooling) to connect them up and, generally, some form of a bigass battery to store the excess power (or the considerably more complex infrastructure to feed that back into the grid).

    We SHOULD be working toward this with basically any decent sized office building having panels and storage. But, short term, we need awnings and trees. Trees especially as they do a LOT more than just provide shade.

    As for residential homes? Solar panels are expensive and the batteries are too. But, if people can afford it, it is something to consider.

    • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 year ago

      Pv is now around $30/m^2 wholesale and $60/m^2 retail.

      Not much more expensive than a sheet metal roof (far cheaper than a mature tree after all the water and tending), but a sheet metal roof doesn’t produce $100/yr worth of electricity.

      Tree good. If can’t afford tree, then pv obvious choice.

      • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world
        21·
        1 year ago

        It helps that solar panels (done well) very much add to the value of the house and there are a lot of state and federal programs to offset the costs. And, if you live in an even somewhat sunny area, they help to offset their own cost over a LONG time.

        But yeah. Regardless of what the tech youtubers with giant mansions say, they are not some magic panacea. And I very much align with Technology Connections in terms of being wary of their impact on society as a whole when the rich can pay even less of an energy bill.

        But, if you can afford them and they make sense, they are awesome.