KPBS Midday Edition

The Need For Shade Trees On A Warming Planet

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer of Audio News

Published June 29, 2021 at 1:21 PM PDT

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

Ladale Hayes plants a tree in Watts, part of a Los Angeles campaign to plant 90,000 trees by 2021, in this undated photo.

With a heat wave scorching the West, environmentalists are looking for ways to cool things down.

One way for urban areas to cool down is by harnessing the power of shade. Under the unsheltered sun, people can feel as much as 20 degrees warmer than in a shady area. The obvious way to provide this free and natural cooling is to line a neighborhood with trees, except, quite often, that’s not what’s happened.

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A new article in National Geographic outlines both the necessity of shade for a warming planet and the unequal distribution of shady, tree-lined streets in our cities, including in San Diego.

Climate scientist and National Geographic writer Alejandra Borunda joined Midday Edition on Tuesday to talk about, "A Shady Divide," the July cover story she wrote for National Geographic magazine. Hard copies of the magazine are available in print on Tuesday and online at natgeo.com/race.

Trees Needed In Underserved Areas To Decrease Health Impacts Of Warming Planet

A new article in National Geographic outlines both the necessity of shade for a warming planet and the unequal distribution of shady, tree-lined streets in our cities, including here in San Diego.

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KPBS Midday Edition Climate Change

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer of Audio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

See stories by Brooke Ruth