By Tennis Lilly
Project Manager
Groundwork Lawrence
Here in Lawrence we’ve been through an exceptionally hot summer so far with 15 days of daytime temperatures reaching 90 degrees or more. While the entire Merrimack Valley felt the heat, communities like Lawrence suffer the added burden of the heat island effect, acres of urban hardscape covered with asphalt, concrete and dark colored roofs absorb the suns rays, adding to the existing warm air temperatures and making our city as much as 10 degrees hotter than surrounding suburban towns.
To make matters worse, these surfaces radiate heat back into the atmosphere at night, robbing us of any relief long after the sun goes down.
The heat island effect doesn’t just make our community hotter and more uncomfortable, it significantly impacts air quality. Hot air is dirty air and heat waves are usually accompanied by warnings for the elderly and people with respiratory illness to stay inside.
Lawrence is already bearing the burden of high rates of childhood asthma and adult respiratory illness; heat waves make these problems much worse. Climate change increases this warming and no matter what we do to combat it, at least another full degree of warming is “in the pipeline” and unavoidable over the coming century.
There is something that can be done to combat the urban heat island effect in Lawrence however, it’s inexpensive, comes with many other benefits, and almost everyone in the city can participate in some way. The solution? Plant trees, a lot of them.
The existing urban forest in Lawrence already contributes over $273 thousand dollars annually in benefits (reducing energy consumption, removing pollution from the air, storing storm water, increasing property values). For every dollar spent on tree planting and maintenance in Lawrence, the community receives $2.48 in benefits. Adding 5 trees per acre to the existing tree canopy in Lawrence would reduce the average air temperature, lower energy consumption and improve air quality.
How does this effort look “on the ground” here in Lawrence? Since 2004, Groundwork Lawrence has been planting trees in the community through its Green Streets program. Green Streets has planted nearly 2,000 trees throughout the city including an impressive 408 trees this past Spring. These trees have been planted along streets, in public parks (including 75 trees in the newly renovated O’Connell South Common), and in private yards.
Thanks to funding from the Massachusetts Greening The Gateway Cities program, these trees are provided to the community free of charge, and planted by a professionally trained crew of local residents. For the past two years, Green Streets has been planting only in the Arlington and South Common neighborhoods. This is to maximize the cooling effect of newly planted trees by concentrating them in a small area. This fall, Green Streets will add the Colonial Heights neighborhood to its planting zone.
If you live in the Arlington, South Common or Colonial Heights neighborhood, you can have free trees planted in your yard. If you live outside of these areas, you can be added to a waiting list for future tree planting. Residents who don’t want trees can still contribute by adopting public trees and ensuring that they are regularly watered and cared for. Throughout the city, public trees have blue ribbons to identify them as adoptable trees. By committing to giving these Blue Ribbon Trees 15 gallons of water each week, you can help ensure their survival.
For more information about Green Streets, to request a free tree for your home or to adopt a Blue Ribbon Tree, contact the Green Streets program: greenstreets@groudnworklawrence.org , or call (978) 974-0770, Ext 7016.
