Planting trees can prevent heat-related deaths

Planting more trees could decrease deaths from higher summer temperatures in cities by a third, a modeling study suggests. Researchers modeled 93 European cities and found that increasing tree cover up to 30% could help lower the temperature of urban environments and prevent heat-related deaths (average city tree coverage in Europe is currently 14.9%). Of the 6,700 premature deaths attributed to higher temperatures in cities during 2015, 2,644 could have been prevented by increased tree coverage. There are lessons in the study for local active-aging organizations, as well.