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"Green spaces significantly cool our ever-hotter cities. New research suggests more trees could cut heat-related ER visits in LA by up to two-thirds."
-Wired
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June 22, 2024
NO ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW = lower public health
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ED1 allows developers to bypass The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a law that "requires studies and disclosures of possible environmental harms from various development projects."³ A neighbor who built their own apartments in the late 1970's said at that time developers had to leave a certain amount of green space when constructing apartments and if not, they had to increase their fee to public parks. There are also federal laws requiring developers to contribute to green spaces in communities.⁴ |
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Why does this matter? Because it shows that the government knows that green space is needed for a healthy community- it's not a frivolous luxury. Without public comment or environmental review, ED 1 projects have less landscaping, negatively impacting areas already deficient in green space. This affects public health:
"...Scientists find that one in four lives lost during heat waves could be avoided... New research suggests more trees could cut heat-related ER visits in LA by up to two-thirds... While it’s generally a feel-good kind of investment for cities, we need to tie those investments to public health outcomes..."¹¹ (Wired)
CITIES HOLD ON TO HEAT, TREES REFLECT IT
"As global temperatures rise, so too does the 'urban heat island effect'—the tendency for cities to absorb and hold on to the sun’s energy, which is a growing public-health crisis worldwide... Good tree cover... reflects heat... impermeable surfaces like pavement... absorb it."¹¹
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"Accordingly, a high-income neighborhood with lots of parks and landscaping might be 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than a low-income, more industrialized area—like so many health threats, heat disproportionately affects those who are the most deprived. The urban heat island effect varies not only from neighborhood to neighborhood, but also from block to block and even house to house..."¹¹
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"In a majority-white area of Silver Lake — where median household income is more than $98,000 a year and mature trees dapple the hilly streets with shade — the surface temperature was 96.4 degrees. Less than a mile away, in a corner of East Hollywood, it was 102.7 degrees. The predominantly Latino and Asian area, where median household income is less than $27,000 a year, is packed with older, 2- and 3-story apartment buildings. It has few trees big enough to provide shade, and less than one-third the canopy of Silver Lake, ranking it among the lowest coverage areas in the city."⁵
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MAXIMIZED CEMENT MINIMIZES THE AQUIFER
Los Angeles needs "lots more green spaces in general that allow rainwater to soak into the underlying aquifer or cisterns for later extraction."¹¹ Building so close to the edge of properties, without as much space for exposed ground that absorbs rainwater, negatively affects the giant naturally-occurring "storage tank" of water under the ground: the aquifer. When building infrastructure, for our safety and health, it's important to remember "...groundwater is being dangerously depleted nationwide."⁸ We rely on the aquifer during droughts and day to day. |
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NEW TREES NEED MORE WATER
Cutting down older trees on older properties and replacing them with new trees on developments isn't an equal trade. "Trees need regular trimming, care and maintenance, including weekly watering for the first five years until they are able to survive on their own, but in many cases that just isn’t happening... There is no consistent practice on who will water street trees — the city or residents — for the first few years while they establish roots."¹² Water may be "in increasingly short supply as Southern California warms...'"¹¹ "So keeping existing mature trees in place is actually really critical to canopy expansion."¹¹ |
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In 2014, a study showed that one-fifth of trees the city planted died after 5 years.
PUBLIC HEALTH
“Extreme heat in cities is already the leading weather-related killer in many countries, including the USA. Annually, extreme heat causes more deaths than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes and lightning combined.”⁹ (International Journal of Biometeorology)
PUBLIC HEALTH
“Extreme heat in cities is already the leading weather-related killer in many countries, including the USA. Annually, extreme heat causes more deaths than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes and lightning combined.”⁹ (International Journal of Biometeorology)
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
#SAVEOURHOMES