THE NEED TO COOL OUR CITIES
THE NEED TO COOL OUR CITIES
By 2050, 68 % of people are expected to live
in urban centers. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (2019) found that
American cities need 40% urban canopy to significantly reduce urban heat. Unfortunately, very few cities, especially in
poorer countries have green spaces with towering trees.
As well as helping to reduce urban
temperatures, trees provide a myriad astounding benefits to all of us here on
Earth.
o trees are the cheapest, safest, and most effective tools for
mitigating the devastating impacts of climate chaos such as famine producing droughts and deadly
floods
o the roots of trees prevent good soil from being blown
away and turning large tracts of land into sandy deserts
o the shade of trees keep spawning grounds for fish and other
aquatic life cool so the eggs do not dry out from the intense heat of the
sun
o trees help reduce flooding and
erosion, the roots of mature trees can lift up to 100 gallons
of water every day and discharge it onto the air- (the more mature trees saved
, the less the impact of flash flooding)
o the
billions of hairs on leaves trap, dust, dirt and 85% of nasty pollutants like
sulphur dioxide, sulphates, and nitrogen oxide
o children
who play outdoors surrounded by trees exhibit less severe symptoms of ADHD.
o a single acre of trees will compensate for approximately 12
000 km of cars use
o trees and shrubs will reduce the flow of
contaminated sediments entering lakes and rivers and thus greatly improve
water quality
o some trees take nitrogen from the air and make it available to
plants and the leaves
o wood from trees decomposes to create fertile soil
Over a 50-year lifespan, one tree provides the equivalent of $160,000 of environmental services by creating oxygen, cleaning water and air, and preventing soil erosion!
One group of botanists believe they have at least a partial solution to
this lack of urban woodlands. Their answer is to plant as
many small forests in, as many cities as possible, around the world.
Miyawaki Akira, a plant ecologist at Yokohama, Japan, National University, has developed
this unique concept to help cool cities around the world.
The following is the process required.
First the volunteers involved analyze the soil and amend it with organic
fertilizers, as needed. Next, they survey by foot the surrounding area and
choose 100 or so native plants.
Seedlings are planted randomly and very close together. As they fight for
sunlight, only the fastest-growing survive. This technique also encourages the
plants to grow faster. Trees give shade to shrubs, as well as, structures for
vines to climb. The trees roots interact with each other and micorrhizal fungi
in the soil help the trees suck up water and provide nutrients such as nitrogen
and phosphorus. And in return the roots give the micorrhizal fungi carbon, carbohydrates,
and other nutrients.
Trees planted in this way can shoot up as much as 14% more rapidly than
normal. Since trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, sedges, and ground covers are
found to grow in harmony in a natural forest, a mono-culture of a nothing but
the same species of trees is avoided.
For three years, the natural
forest is watered when needed and after that it’s is left to fend for itself.
In about 20 years the forest will have begun to reach full maturity.
Shubhendu Sharma is a pomologist who specialized in fruit growing. In 2011 he founded Afforestt and has become a leading proponent of
Miyawaki’s methods.
In 2009 Mr. Sharma was extremely impressed
when he observed Dr. Miyawaki methods of
reforestation in urban areas. He decided
to transform his own yard using Dr. Miyawaki method focussing on guava trees.
Once the trees were established regular puddles disappeared and there were an
increased number of birds visiting. Mr. Sharma was happy to report that temperature
under his trees was 5°C below that of the surrounding area.
Mr. Sharma has measured how long, on average; it takes to plant each
sort of seed or seedling and uses that information to schedule their sowing.
Since its foundation, Afforestt has created 138 forests in ten countries and is
currently setting up four more. It has also spawned at least 15 other initiatives
in Australia, Chile and Iran.
The Miyawaki method unfortunately
could not work on large scale reforestations as it is too labour
intensive. These day when many large tract of land where forests have burned to
the ground seeds are scattered over large areas by drones.
As a matter of fact the inventors at Flash Forest, a Canadian company figured out a way to
retrofit paintball machine guns onto drones. Now they are on track to plant a
billion tree seedlings in Canada by 2024.
They created tiny tree seed pods with nutrients and pre-germinated
tree seeds, which they can shoot out one per second, as they send the drones
flying over wastelands, in need of restoration.
Kevin, I was
wondering if we have areas around Barrie that would be suitable for creating
Miniature forests using Dr. Miyawaki’s methods.
I was thinking
an ideal location would be at 5 corners now that the condo deal is a done deal.
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