One Reason It’s Hotter in Poorer Neighborhoods: Fewer Trees

THURSDAY, April 29, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Poor neighborhoods in the United States have fewer trees and are hotter than richer neighborhoods, new research shows. In the study, the researchers assessed tree cover in the 100 largest urban areas of the country. In nine out of 10 communities, there was less tree cover in low-income areas than in high-income areas. On average, low-income neighborhoods had about 15% less tree cover and were 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). “We had expected low-income and minority neighborhoods to have less tree cover and so be more at risk during summer heat waves, but we were still surprised and troubled at how widespread this tree inequality was, with 92% of communities having lower tree cover in low-income than in high-income areas,” according to researcher Robert McDonald of The Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Va., and his colleagues. Read more | source: consumer.healthday.com