Chen Ly
An analysis of satellite data from 293 cities in Europe has found that trees have a big cooling effect while other green spaces don’t
23 November 2021 
The cooling effect of trees reduces the surface temperature of European cities in the summer by up to 12°C in some regions. In contrast, green spaces without trees have a negligible effect, according to a study that strengthens the case for tree planting to help cities adapt to global warming.
Jonas Schwaab at ETH Zurich in Switzerland and his colleagues used land surface temperature data collected by satellites to compare the temperature differences between areas covered by trees, treeless urban green spaces, such as parks, and urban fabric such as roads and buildings. They analysed 293 cities from across Europe.
The land surface temperature measured by satellites isn’t the same as the air temperature, which is more closely linked to what humans would feel, says Schwaab. “Usually, the air temperature difference between tree-covered areas and built-up areas would be much smaller than the land surface temperature differences,” he says.

Property developers United Welsh and Edenstone Homes will build 45 new affordable homes on a greenfield site in the suburb of Pontprennau. The unlit road to the site has narrowings and sharp bends and is regarded as not being a “quality route” for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Europe could be experiencing its worst drought in 500 years, a leading scientist has warned.
Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher at the European Drought Observatory, said this year’s dry conditions will worsen and will most likely eclipse the unprecedented drought of 2018.
There is “very high risk” that the current lack of rainfall in western and central Europe will continue for the next three months, he said.
The warning came as the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre predicted that the drought could end up affecting 47 per cent of the continent.
As a result of scorching temperatures, water levels have plummeted across Europe, leading some authorities to impose restrictions on water use.
In France’s Burgundy region, white dust and dead fish now line what used to be the River Tille’s watercourse.

Josh Loeb
As London’s felling upsurge is revealed, one entrepreneur calls for vigilance and says technology can help map London’s green giants amid hopes that smartphones will help urbanites better appreciate nature. 
Trees are being chopped down at an alarming rate in Britain‘s green and pleasant capital city, with over 10,000 specimens removed by council chainsaw crews last year alone.
Figures obtained by E&T suggest there has been a spike in tree felling in London in recent years, with at least 20 per cent more trees cut down by the city’s 33 councils in the last five years compared with the period 2003-2007.

Jon Burke
What can we do to reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heatwaves? Quite a lot actually, writes climate expert Jon Burke.
In describing the Rumble in the Jungle world heavyweight title contest between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, celebrated journalist Norman Mailer once said of the ruthless early punishment Ali suffered: “The nightmare he had been awaiting…had finally come to visit him.” If Mailer had pulled up a ringside seat as I watched in horror the UK experience its first ever 40C day, smashing the 2018 record by a full 1.6C, he might well have drawn some parallels.
Yes, there have been other warning signals that the global warming is accelerating – in the past four years alone, the UK has experienced its first winter day above 20C, largest number of ‘tropical nights’ above 20C, and the hottest day on record has been broken three times – but somehow broaching 40C was a real ‘crossing the Rubicon’ moment. Even the usually unflappable climate scientists looked on in horror as one of an unprecedented number of simultaneously active wildfires destroyed 40 families’ homes and the London Fire Brigade announced it had experienced its busiest day since the Second World War.

The West Midlands is the historic home of the UK’s automotive industry. It can be the future too. An ambitious green industrial strategy – with workers and communities at its heart – can ensure the region leads the UK’s transport revolution: producing the electric vehicles of the future, centring mobility justice, and securing the green industries and trade union jobs of the future.
Drawing on workshops with local trade unionists, climate activists, policy officers, and researchers, the Architectural Association, the AA Groundlab, and Common Wealth have created a vision of the Birmingham’s auto industry and transport systems that is electric, public-oriented, and thriving. 

Steve Garidis, executive director of the Bicycle Association of Great Britain
E-bikes have taken the world’s cycling markets by storm. They (mostly) look just like regular bicycles. They are ridden just like regular bicycles. And, in many countries, they have the same rules: no licence or registration is required to use them on the road.
E-bike riders are evangelical about them, many discovering (or rediscovering) a passion for cycling. They come with all the joys and benefits of cycling, and far fewer of the downsides; just a subtle and silent helping hand that flattens hills and dismisses the curse of headwinds.
Long gone are those days when cycling businesses, used to focusing on the enthusiast market, sniffed at e-bikes as ‘cheating’. E-bikes cost more than regular bikes, attract better margins and have attracted a new sort of customer. They are driving much of the growth and investment which the cycling industry has enjoyed in the past five years.

It is false economics to suggest that a decline in cycle sales means fewer people are cycling (Cycling growth in UK at risk of being left behind by Europe, experts warn, 8 August). When car sales drop, we do not say fewer people are driving. It is a change in consumer not travel behaviour.