Life in a city can be especially hard for a tree. Buildings, pollution, poor soil, insects, and even car crashes can add to tree loss. Now, the warming climate is making a tree’s life even harder.
SEATTLE (AP) – As the driest summer in Seattle’s record books ended, trees across the city were sounding silent alarms. It was the latest in a string of Seattle summers in the last decade, including a record-breaking heat dome in 2021, to feature drier conditions and hotter temperatures that have left many trees with premature […]
As the driest summer in Seattle’s record books ended, trees across the city were sounding silent alarms. Research has shown the shade of mature trees also helps reduce unhealthful “heat islands,” especially in poor neighborhoods. But life of a city tree is already challenging and those problems are being compounded by a warming planet.
Cities across the world have promised to plant more carbon-absorbing trees to help fight climate change. Research has shown the shade of mature trees also helps reduce unhealthful “heat islands,” especially in poor neighborhoods. But life of a city tree is already challenging and those problems are being compounded by a warming planet. Increasingly, the challenge for city arborists is to keep old and new trees alive, and it's incurring a bigger hit on municipal budgets.