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The tree canopy cover is notably more than typical parks or other urban green areas which tend to have more grass, and the cooler temperatures were particularly pronounced in the hottest suburbs that don’t enjoy cooling sea breezes. The researchers estimate that increasing green foliage in residential gardens could reduce local heat by several degrees Celsius. On the other hand, they calculated that removing existing vegetation through urbanisation, infill and densification could increase local land surface temperatures by three to four degrees, particularly during the day and for the most vulnerable communities. The considerable, localised cooling benefits of backyard gardens have important implications for policy, which needs to account for extreme temperatures in urban planning, Ossola says. “Our results clearly indicate that encouraging, protecting and expanding urban greening on private land is a simple, effective means of mitigating the negative effects of climate change on cities and people. “However this is a strategy that needs to begin now: urban forests don’t grow quickly, and we need to be encouraging low-water use herbaceous cover as a stopgap until a large array of shade trees can take over the job of green cooling.”
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