Can plants help cities adapt to climate change?
Introduction
City greening is increasingly at the heart of urban regeneration projects. Plants - in the form of trees, shrubs and flowers - have important roles to play in improving urban landscapes, addressing issues of mental health and well-being, and in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Plants can help to cool cities by reducing the heat island effect. Green areas can also reduce surface runoff by increasing infiltration and rates of evapotranspiration. This helps to reduce the risk of flooding in urban areas.
Plants - and in particular trees - can act as carbon sinks, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
Professor Ross Cameron (University of Sheffield) is a landscape horticulturalist specializing in the use and value of landscape plants. He has written an engaging and informative PowerPoint presentation focusing on the role of plants in reducing the impacts of climate change.
Click the icon below to download the Powerpoint presentation as a pdf.
About the Author
Professor Ross Cameron
Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield
Ross Cameron is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield. He a landscape horticulturalist specializing in the use and value of landscape plants. His current research interests centre around green infrastructure and climate change mitigation, with a strong emphasis on city cooling, thermal insulation, flood tolerance and biodiversity enhancement.
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