I’ve noticed an increase in the trend of local governments just clear cutting their expensive decades old shade trees.
They turn entire main/arterial streets full of beautiful green canopies and pedestrian/micromobility activity into a baking wasteland of 150 degree concrete and asphalt. With predictable results for the retail businesses.
All to save a few dollars on maintenance.
Man humanity really is cooked. How does any of this shit even matter when we will all die or have our lives ruined by climate change in our lifetimes?
How does any of this shit even matter when we will all die or have our lives ruined by climate change in our lifetimes?
This is pretty much how I see things:
I think we're fucked for a variety of reasons, and it's looking uncomfortably probable that billions are going to die and if things really go pear-shaped it'll possibly happen in my lifetime, but realistically I can do fuck-all about any of it (I was more of an activist for years but now I'm middle-aged and tired) and in the past maybe year or so I've found myself more and more just refusing to stress about any of this. I'm going to try and live my life the best I can, do good by the people in my life, and just… I don't know, "stop caring" would maybe be too strong because I do care, but I guess I sort of accept what the situation is.
Doesn't mean I'm a nihilist or that I'm now clubbing baby seals and heating my apartment with a burning barrel of crude, but more like I've started to accept how much power – ie. how little power – I have over any of this and just want to live the latter half of my life in as much peace as is going to be possible.
Chicago is a perfect example of what happens with a lack of trees, colder winters and hot summers. In NYC and other places they doing natural water absorption areas (forgot what it's called) to prevent flooding by using trees and so on because the concrete helps with flooding. I think I saw it on Weathered on PBS. I hate it in my neighborhood when people just cut down trees for no reason other that they don't want to deal with it. Other than the environmental benefits I feel it makes my neighborhood beautiful.
A tree is not only beautiful but super helpful in a city. Provides cover from sun, rain and other elements. Regenerates air.
Yet I hear people in the streets wanting to cut them down. What do they want? Asphalted cities or what?
Do you have an example?
I live in Austria and most local governments start doing the opposite. They plant trees all around the city even if it takes away some parking spots for cars. And as the trees grow, the shading area gets bigger and it get's cooler.
There's always been a rule of thumb in my circles that the more greenery you see in a neighborhood, the more affluent it is. Interesting enough, you can also link heat to violent crime even when controlling for socioeconomic status.
In other words, a lack of trees exacerbates an already high crime rate in low income areas. But good luck convincing people to pay for green when you've got dozens of other problems.
I think even without the heat, just seeing greenery is supposed to be calming and good for your mental health.
Cities that don't prioritize this look so bleak and depressing to me. The same goes for a lot of newly built cookie-cutter suburbs where they place the houses so close together than there's not enough room for any nature.
Appearances do matter, yeah. Actually, there is a study out there that showed a reduction in subway crime when graffiti is cleaned up vs when it's left on the trains. Unfortunately it's been like 15 years so I forget the source, though. I imagine there's been follow ups too, if any lemmings want a random homework assignment lol
At the local park, they place benches such that they are far away from the shade of trees. "It's Washington the ever Green State, just not here buddy!"
At Disneyland and many other parks the benches are placed in blazing sun blasted areas. All rides are standing room sun blasted areas only with sprinklers at the end so you don't die before the ride where you'll be dealing with heat stroke. At the world infamous SeaWorld, the stands are under the blazing sun.
It's all asshole designed to me.
Yeah, theme parks tend to be asshole designed to keep you circulating through the park, and spending money. Normal city parks in most places do the asshole design as much. We still have a large amount of trees in our cities compared to Europe according to all the tourists.
My in-laws are bitching about the heat and how it's driving their electric bill up to keep their massive extremely-windowed house cool.
My in-laws also refuse to plant trees in their massive, empty, flat, baby-shit-green lawn because it "ruins the view".... Of the road. And their neighbors house. And the tips of the trees behind the neighbors house.
They also refuse to get new windows, because their 30 year old windows aren't broken. they don't need curtains because they got tired of changing them every season and holiday with themed festive or otherwise-coordinated-with-mood colors... And of course awnings would just make the whole house look ugly, because a large beige rectangle would just look so much worse with awnings...
I get not wanting to spend thousands on new installations, up-front costs are a bitch.
But planting trees is so cheap...
Do them a favor and get some polarized window film and imstall it for them
In Poland they cut good old trees and plant small ones that give no shade.
Same here.
But what if a child climbs the tree, falls and breaks their arm?
What if the tree bears fruit, and an unemployed individual is able to acquire food without giving money to the owner class?
Don't worry, they stopped planting female trees so they won't have to worry about that and instead we just clean up the pollen from the male trees with our lungs
We must tax the fruit.
What if while walking, someone stumbles and thereby gets out onto the street and is struck by a car, not killing them instantly but causing them a long and painful remaining (but still overall greatly shortened) lifetime of misery, pain, suffering, and depression, and then they write a book that inspires the next Hitler to unleash a new era of genocidal warfare upon the world?
I guess we'll deal with whatever comes our way 😀.
Works better in dry environments. Went to California for the first time and finally understood the wonder of shade in a ‘dry heat’. In the mid-Atlantic where I live it just always feels like a hot wet blanket, shade or no shade.
California or Canada?
Good point, California. I’ll update my comment to clarify.
Roughly
1115 KelvinCloser to 15.
I was in Barcelona last week. This was basically everywhere.
Just make sure they arent the weepy type trees that sap up the sidewalk
America could never
Tell me you've never been to the US, or never been outside the US, without telling me you've never been to the US or never been outside the US.
Trees need plenty of soil and surface area for that soil, which city landscapers rarely provide properly.
