Break up the concrete! ⚒️ 🌳

Dallas is way too hot. The city says less pavement could help cool it down

"[Impervious surfaces] absorb 95% of the solar energy that hits them, raising the temperature around them. The goal is to encourage developers to incorporate more green space and trees, which cools things down on the ground."

https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-09-09/dallas-heat-islands-smart-surfaces-pavement-buildings

#Dallas #ClimateChange #UrbanHeatIslands #DylanDuke #SmartSurfaces #ParkingMinimums #KERANews #KERA

“The answer to rising heat may not lie in the shiny promises of techno-futurism, but in organic technologies that predate us by over 4,000 years. Salt, clay, water, shadow, breeze—ancient sciences, far wiser than modern hubris. Clay, after all, is earth that remembers. It holds the shape of what has touched it; it is history made malleable, and perhaps a way to secure our future.”

#ClimateCrisis #Architecture #UrbanPlanning #UrbanDesign #RisingHeat #UrbanHeatIslands

https://atmos.earth/the-future-of-cooling-was-invented-thousands-of-years-ago/

“Cool roof treatments [work] on their own, require little maintenance, & can cost even less than a traditional roof. ‘They also extend the life of a roof because there’s less wear and tear of the material expanding in the heat, then contracting when it cools down.’ Cooler buildings reduce the need for air conditioning, which blows hot air outside the home & raises energy costs.”

#CoolRoofs #Architecture #BuildingCodes #ClimateCrisis #UrbanHeatIslands #ClimateAction

https://www.planetizen.com/news/2025/07/135556-new-atlanta-law-requires-cool-roofs

“As global temperatures rise and heat waves grow more deadly, the roofs over our heads have become battlefields in a consequential climate war. It’s happening as the Trump administration and Congress move to derail measures designed to make appliances and buildings more energy efficient.”

#ClimateCrisis #CoolRoofs #EnergyEfficiency #BuildingCodes #UrbanHeatIslands #DarkRoofLobby #ClimateAction #ClimateActionNow

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/06/dark-roof-lobby-white-reflective-roofs-laws-lobbying-urban-heat-islands/

Londoners should be charged for paving gardens and offered incentives to restore soil, says climate resilience report
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/17/londoners-should-be-charged-for-paving-gardens-says-climate-resilience-report?

#ClimateChange #Flooding #UrbanHeatIslands

This looks encouraging.

I think I've seen @Philsturgeon talking about the challenges and importance of urban tree planting, hopefully this is a tool that will help. At least looks good to see people attempting to tackle the issues. Although, of course, any scheme needs proper funding.

https://theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/30/new-york-city-tree-planting-lidar-mapping

#trees #UrbanPlanting #ClimateCrisis #UrbanHeatIslands