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ArticleRx for hot cities: Building climate resilience through urban greening and cooling in Los Angeles, California, USA
XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
2022Also available in:
No results found.Extreme heat and its health impacts are on the rise. Globally, the six warmest years on record all occurred since 2015, and in Los Angeles (LA) average temperatures are expected to increase up to 4.5°C in coming decades. Extreme heat causes more deaths in the United States than all other weather-related causes combined, with heat risk being most pronounced in urban areas due to the heat-island effect. Reducing urban heat exposure is an equity issue, as low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live in neighborhoods with older buildings, low tree canopy cover, more heat-retaining surfaces, and limited access to coping strategies such as air conditioning. The Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative (LAUCC) is a multi-disciplinary partnership of researchers and expert practitioners working with communities and government to understand and mitigate heat in LA. LAUCC completed a modeling study of current and projected heat in LA County to: 1) identify geographic areas with highest vulnerability to heat-related death; 2) quantify how various urban forest cover (UFC) and built environment albedo scenarios would affect heat-related mortality, temperature, humidity, and oppressive air masses that lead to elevated mortality; and 3) quantify the number of years that climate change-induced warming could be delayed by implementing these interventions. We find that increasing shade, evaporative cooling, and albedo through increases in UFC and reflective surfaces could save one in four lives lost to heat waves in Los Angeles, mostly in low-income communities and communities of color. We also find that these measures could modify local meteorology sufficiently to delay local effects of global climate change-induced warming by 25 to 60 years under business-as-usual and moderate mitigation scenarios, respectively. These strategies can be adapted to combat extreme heat in other regions that are experiencing similar challenges. Keywords: Human health and well-being, Research, Sustainable forest management, Adaptive and integrated management, Climate change ID: 3479653 -
ArticleHuman and environmental health benefits of forests: impetus for greening the future
XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
2022Also available in:
No results found.Forests and trees provide wealth of ecosystem services that help in creating healthy living for human and environments by restoring degraded ecosystems. Forests are significant storehouses of medicinal compounds used in the production of drugs from wild organisms used for health purposes. In this reviewed paper, highlights were made on the health benefits of the forests. Human psychological disorder treatment, pharmaceutical benefits, traditional medicine practices for human health, regulation of infectious diseases by forest and forest as source of food for healthy living were discussed. Also, the synergy between environment and human health consequent on the forests were highlighted. These include: forests as antidote to air pollution, purification of ground water, panaceas to noise pollution control and the role of forest as means of mitigating the upsurge in global temperature and attended human health challenges were brought to light. It was postulated that if forests play such indispensable role in human and environmental health and are conserved, it would serve as impetus for future greening of the environment. It was concluded that sensitization of conservation of wild and urban forests among forest stakeholders should be encouraged to foster future greening of renewable forest. Keywords: Forest, health, environment, greening, tree, medicine ID: 3487046 -
DocumentEmpowering women and coastal communities for a healthy, resilient and productive mangrove forest ecosystem in the Rewa Delta, Fiji
XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
2022Also available in:
No results found.Mangroves provide a number of ecosystem services that are vital to the sustainability of coastal communities and livelihoods in the Rewa Delta, and are a high priority in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies throughout the world; having exceptionally high carbon stocks of any ecosystem on earth. The loss of mangroves to the local and global community would not only mean the loss of their many individual benefits, but also the exacerbated eroding of the collective value of these services. The effects of climate change and global warming have not spared the six communities of the Rewa Delta (Nasilai, Natila, Naivakacau, Waicoka, Narocake and Muanaira) as it has eroded their shorelines. This has incited the villagers to observe the value of protecting mangroves and has encouraged these communities to plant mangroves and restore mangrove areas that have been cut down and damaged by cyclones. Subsequently, most of the women residing in the Rewa Delta rely on these mangrove ecosystems as sources of income and food for their families through fishing, catching crabs and collecting shellfish. Thus, women play such a critical role in the conservation of ecosystems; however, their contribution is often overlooked and undervalued, as such women in the Rewa Delta struggle to be included in community decision-making. Nevertheless, the project allows women to lead and advocate on environmental issues that might impact their lives adversely, improving security, skills development and education of both women and girls in the community. Hence, protecting and restoring their mangrove ecosystem is the most effective method for these six communities to benefit from this ecosystem socially, environmentally and economically. Keywords: mangroves, women, ecosystem services, sustainability, climate change, coastal communities, livelihoods, rewa delta ID: 3486331
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