Where trees are growing — and who has access to their shade — affects health and well-being, especially in one of the hottest states in the country.

Neighborhoods with more trees and green space stay cooler, while those coated with layers of asphalt swelter. Lower-income neighborhoods tend to be hottest, a city report found, and they have the least tree canopy.

The same is true in cities across the country, where poor and minority neighborhoods disproportionately suffer the consequences of rising temperatures. Research shows the temperatures in a single city, from Portland, Oregon, to Baltimore, can vary by up to 20 degrees. For a resident in a leafy suburb, a steamy summer day may feel uncomfortable. But for their friend a few neighborhoods over, it’s more than uncomfortable — it’s dangerous.

  • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world
    61·
    1 year ago

    Solar panels are significant infrastructure investments. Because you don’t just need the panels. You need wiring (possibly cooling) to connect them up and, generally, some form of a bigass battery to store the excess power (or the considerably more complex infrastructure to feed that back into the grid).

    We SHOULD be working toward this with basically any decent sized office building having panels and storage. But, short term, we need awnings and trees. Trees especially as they do a LOT more than just provide shade.

    As for residential homes? Solar panels are expensive and the batteries are too. But, if people can afford it, it is something to consider.

    • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 year ago

      Pv is now around $30/m^2 wholesale and $60/m^2 retail.

      Not much more expensive than a sheet metal roof (far cheaper than a mature tree after all the water and tending), but a sheet metal roof doesn’t produce $100/yr worth of electricity.

      Tree good. If can’t afford tree, then pv obvious choice.

      • Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world
        21·
        1 year ago

        It helps that solar panels (done well) very much add to the value of the house and there are a lot of state and federal programs to offset the costs. And, if you live in an even somewhat sunny area, they help to offset their own cost over a LONG time.

        But yeah. Regardless of what the tech youtubers with giant mansions say, they are not some magic panacea. And I very much align with Technology Connections in terms of being wary of their impact on society as a whole when the rich can pay even less of an energy bill.

        But, if you can afford them and they make sense, they are awesome.

      • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
        12·
        1 year ago

        You can buy the panels, inverter, racking and a battery which produces more than enough for anything smaller than a mansion for <$10k. Batteries are also not really necessary and can be added later.

        Why are you paying > $20k for someone to put in 60 screws and a piece of conduit?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          1·
          1 year ago

          For one thing, that’s not what I’ve seen in terms of pricing overall. For another, believe it or not, not all of us are able to do things like install solar panels on a roof.

          • schroedingershat@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            Wild concept: It’s possible to offer a fair price to someone who can. You don’t need to pay $20k for one day’s labour (although you probably do need to pay about $1k for an hour for a licensed electrician to inspect and do the final hookup if you want to AC feed for winter and cloudy days). You do not need to pay $1/W or wait years for grid tie if you have a battery and size for self consumption.

            Given how thoroughly ripped off you are and how dismissive you are of the price people in civilised countries consider normal, I’ll assume you’re in the US. Signature solar sell panels for 31c/W hybrid off-grid inverters for $2k and batteries for $280/kWh. You can probably do better if you look around and don’t just listen to the door to door MLM scammers.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              2·
              1 year ago

              Again, the prices you are giving me are not the prices I have been seeing.

              And I wasn’t dismissive of anything. I was talking about my personal experience. Which you are dismissing.

              And even if you’re right, I can’t afford $10,000 either.