It's obvious that trees can be a source of relief on hot days in Las Vegas, but new research shows they do more for us in the desert than anywhere else in the country.
Here's why:
Trees work to reduce the heat we feel in two ways.
The first way is through shade, which reduces surface temperature. The second way is through transpiration, a process a plant uses to cool itself down.
“Think of a tree as an actual straw that is dipped into the glass of water that is just the soil and the groundwater, and the suction is the dryness in the air. The drier the air is, the more water is being pulled out of the soil, through the tree, out of the leaves, and cooling the air," Peter Ibsen, USGS Research Ecologist, told Channel 13.
Ibsen is one of the scientists behind a new multi-year study that measured the cooling benefits of trees in cities across America. They found that in Las Vegas, we get the biggest bang for our buck.
“In the hottest, driest cities, and Las Vegas being the hottest, driest one, the trees are cooling air temperature far beyond what they are doing in the humid cities.”
Specifically, in Las Vegas, places in the metropolitan area with the most tree canopy versus the least canopy represent an eight-degree difference in temperature, according to Ibsen.
"Las Vegas has some of the lowest tree canopy per area in any city. So in the realistic sense, going from no tree canopy to the most tree canopy area of Las Vegas, you're dropping, like I said, 110 degrees to 102 and during a heat wave, you can add on an extra degree for more tree canopy."
Ibsen explained that the USGS team found that for every 12% increase in tree canopy, the intensity of a heat wave dropped by one and a half degrees.
“What we would really like to impart is trees and vegetation do take these degrees down, but they shouldn't be considered the only method to reduce temperature. They are a tool and sort of a heat mitigation toolkit. All tools come with a cost. The cost of vegetation is water," Ibsen said.
However, emerging research shows that optimizing water use and foliage coverage in cities is possible despite warming conditions worldwide.
“We don't want to just turn off the gasket to the city and save water and just have all the vegetation die. You can reduce lawns and grass and keep trees and still get a significant reduction in water usage while maintaining the benefits," Ibsen said.
Tree Planting Nonprofit: Nevada Plants
To learn more about what you can do here at home to add to our tree canopy across the valley, Channel 13 reached out to Nevada Plants. The nonprofit recently hosted a tree giveaway in North Las Vegas.
Board Member Susan Ritter said the organization has seen a lot of support in the past few years its been operational.
"Over 1700 trees we've planted and given out," Ritter said.
“We have water challenges here, but we need to balance that with the Urban Canopy that we still need to keep here.”
She confirmed that the trees in her own backyard provide an obvious benefit during the extreme heat.
“I can tell you that even when it’s 115, 120 degrees here, I can stick my hand in the canopy of this orange tree and immediate cooling, immediate cooling to my arm," Ritter said.
"Now's the time to plant. Now's the time to replace things. Now's the time to think about, you know, what in your landscape you want for that cooling for the next summer," she continued.
Related: Hot Plants! Record temps push landscapes to their limits this summer
