It’s a great idea that planting more trees in urban areas to lower summer temperatures could reduce deaths directly related to heat waves by a third, researchers said Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Tests have shown that if a city’s tree cover could reach 30 percent of its surface area, compared to the current average of 14.9 percent, it would reduce temperatures by an average of 0.4 degrees Celsius during summer heat waves, reports a study published in The Lancet.
结果显示，2015 年欧洲 93 个城市中有 6700 多人因气温升高而过早死亡，因此有三分之一的人可以避免死亡。
这份科学报告的第一作者、巴塞罗那全球健康研究所的研究员塔玛尔-英格曼（Tamar Iungman）指出，在全球城市变暖的背景下，这份报告首次预测了增加树木覆盖可以避免的过早死亡人数。
Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, BC, Canada
自城市中心形成以来，由于热岛效应，城市的气温一直高于周边郊区或农村。
原因很简单，气温升高的主要原因是植被被移走、空调系统带走热量，以及沥青和深色建筑材料吸热和保温。
“We already know that high temperatures in urban environments are associated with negative health outcomes, such as cardiorespiratory failure, increased hospital admissions and premature deaths,” Iungman said in a statement.
“Our goal is to inform local policy and decision-makers about the benefits of strategically integrating green infrastructure into urban planning to promote more sustainable, resilient and healthy urban environments.”
随着人类引起的气候变化，城市的气温上升将更加剧烈，因此城市越来越迫切需要适应气候变化，以改善健康状况。
2022 年，欧洲经历了有记录以来最热的夏季和有记录以来第二热的年份。近几十年来，世界各地的热浪不断创下新高，持续时间也越来越长。
在欧洲，冬季的严寒造成的死亡人数甚至多于高温。但根据目前的排放量预测，在十年内，与高温有关的疾病和死亡将成为医疗服务的更大负担。
In North America, the situation is better with cities like Vancouver (26%), Cambridge (25%), Sacramento (24%) Toronto (20%), Tampa (36%) having rates much higher than in Europe. https://senseable.mit.edu/treepedia
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