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Heat Island Newsroom
Welcome to EPA's Urban Heat Island Newsroom. The Newsroom provides current news and links to news releases related to urban heat island impacts, mitigation strategies, and community initiatives. To help keep you up to date, you may also wish to sign up for EPA's Urban Heat Island Newsletter. Older stories can be found in the Newsroom Archive.
- June 2015
- Knoxville, Tennessee Releases Urban Forestry Progress Report Exit (June 24, 2015) – Knoxville, Tennessee has released a progress report on its urban forestry program. The report finds that tree cover remained at 40 percent from 1997 through 2010, the city planted 565 trees during the 2014 planting season, and the city is drafting recommendations for tree planting within parking lots to mitigate storm water runoff.
- Obama Administration Announces Climate Adaptation Actions Exit (June 23, 2015) – The Obama Administration announced actions to increase community resilience against climate impacts, including creating a National Integrated Heat Health Information System to reduce illness, death, and productivity loss from extreme heat events.
- Lancet Commission Releases Report on Economic and Health Impact of Climate Change Exit (June 23, 2015) – The Lancet Commission released a report that finds rising heat waves reduce work capacity and labor productivity, and GDP loss from increasing workplace heat stress is projected to be greater than current spending on health systems in many low- and middle-income countries.
- U.S. EPA Releases Report on Benefits of Global Action on Climate Change Exit (June 22, 2015) – The U.S. EPA released a report that finds global action on climate change is projected to avoid an estimated 12,000 deaths annually associated with extreme temperatures in 49 U.S. cities, compared to a future with no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
- May 2015
- Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York Installing Green Roof Exit (May 27, 2015) – The Barclays Center in Brooklyn New York is installing a 135,000-square-foot green roof composed of sedum, which doesn’t need to be watered.
- Miami Gardens, Florida Plants 100 New Trees Through S.H.A.D.E. Project Exit (May 26, 2015) – The Shaping Healthy, Active, Deep-rooted, Environments (SHADE) initiative in Miami Gardens planted 100 new tree that will help shade a multi-use path that connects a school with a park.
- Researchers Release Study on Future Exposure to Extreme Heat Events Exit (May 18, 2015) – Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the City University of New York estimate that exposure to extreme heat events in the U.S. will increase to an average of 10 to 14 billion person-days per year by 2070, compared with the 1971-2000 average of 2.3 billion person-days per year, due to climate warming and population increases.
- U.S. Forest Service Researching Impact of Tree Planting on Streams Exit (May 11, 2015) – The U.S. Forest Service is researching whether native trees can restore a degraded stream corridor, as well as whether degraded stream corridors are suitable habitat to plant the American Elm tree.
- April 2015
- Morton Arboretum Releases Guide to Selecting and Planting Trees Exit (April 27, 2015) – The Morton Arboretum released a guide that highlights key factors to consider when planting and maintaining a tree, including planting site characteristics, purchasing a quality tree, and maintaining the newly planted tree.
- U.S. Forest Service Creates Urban Forest Program Benchmarking System Exit (April 22, 2015) – The U.S. Forest Service created an audit system to benchmark changes in urban forest program capacity over time, apply best management practices in urban forest management, increase the health of the green assets, and optimize management for identified ecosystem services.
- Hamilton, Montana Creating Urban Forest Management Plan Exit (April 20, 2015) – The city of Hamilton, Montana is creating an urban forest master plan to provide a tool for the city to cost-effectively maintain and enhance its urban forest resource.
- Spokane, Washington to Give Away Trees to Reduce Water Pollution Exit (April 16, 2015) – The City of Spokane, Washington is giving away 2,000 trees to reduce water pollution in the Spokane River, part of a larger two-year effort to plant 10,000 trees.
- Berkeley National Lab Develops “Cool Roof Time Machine” to Test Cool Roof Ratings Exit (April 14, 2015) – Berkeley National Lab developed a “cool roof time machine,” which simulates soiling and weathering processes. The machine simulates three years of weathering in three days, and is expected to speed the introduction of high-performance cool roofs.
- New York Researcher Releases Map of Street Trees Exit (April 14, 2015) – A Brooklyn web developer created a color-coded map of over 500,000 street trees, broken out by type. The map indicates that the Borough of Queens has 40 percent of all street trees.
- Study Finds Correlation Between Income Level and Neighborhood Tree Cover Exit (April 9, 2015) – Researchers released a study that analyzes the distribution of trees in relationship to race and income in Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C. The study finds that income level was strongly correlated with tree cover.
- Nashville, Tennessee Baseball Stadium Installs Green Roof on Concession Area Exit (April 7, 2015) – The Nashville Sounds installed a 1500-square foot green roof composed of drought-tolerant plants.
- Facebook Office Building Installs Green Roof Exit (April 1, 2015) – A new Facebook office building installed a nine-acre green roof that will include a half-mile walking loop.
- Marshall University Engineering Department Installs Green Roof Exit (April 1, 2015) – The Marshall University Engineering Department installed a green roof to reduce summer heating needs and reduce polluted stormwater runoff into the Ohio River.
- West Fargo, North Dakota Creates Urban Forestry Plan Exit (April 1, 2015) – The city of West Fargo, North Dakota created an urban forestry plan, which will rate neighborhoods on a scale of one to five to assess the highest need for work to be done.