This SILENT video shows the disastrous inequities in Los Angeles’ Urban Tree Canopy — urban shade trees that Cal-EPA and top researchers agree are the best defense against the ever-worsening L.A. heat-island effect. 1,500 annual heat wave deaths of Angelenos are expected by 2050, caused by overpaving & development with no counterbalancing, robust, shade-tree canopy. Trees are nature’s top weapon for eating carbon (GHG), capturing stormwater runoff, creating crucial habitat, and fighting the heat-island effect. Shade trees slash our use of AC and thus carbon in both cars and homes. Los Angeles is an old-fashioned, inequitable city 5-10 years behind Sacramento, Washington DC, Austin, San Diego, Seattle, Cleveland, Dallas, Portland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and so on — all Tree Canopy leaders. Mayor Eric Garcetti slashed the urban trees program years ago, and the remaining, struggling canopy stands as silent witness to the longer, hotter heat waves researchers agree are hitting Los Angeles.
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