Showing posts with label canopy loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canopy loss. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

City has lost ~ 1,000 acres of UTC from 1985 - 2006 - effect on stormwater described; Bellevue, WA

Its the Rainy Season - Stormwater is Running Downhill:
While this January is turning out to be one of the warmest (if not the warmest) on record, with daily lows exceeding typical lows on most days, it is still the rainy season. While most of us recognize that winter rains and snowpack lead to summer drinking water and stream flows, in recent years, scientists and regulators have grown far more interested in the effects of that rain in cities, and in particular the stormwater runoff that storms generate. That runoff is regulated by the clean-water act, and while Bellevue and other Western Washington built most of their stormwater infrastructure with an emphasis on moving water from roads and neighborhoods into local streams to prevent flooding, that efficient movement of water has some unintended consequences, especially when compounded by some of the negative effects of urbanization.

Rate of loss has slowed from '92 - '05 when greater metro area lost UTC equal to the size of Houston, but area is still losing tree cover; Houston, TX

Canopy alert! Houston still losing trees - 2010-Jan-26 - CultureMap Houston:
What can offset pollution, help prevent flooding and keep temperatures down? It's not a miracle, it's trees.
And yet, though Houston has long been plagued by these issues, the city and surrounding region have lost a significant amount of tree cover in recent years. According to a new Center for Houston's Future report,