Last year, the city of Las Vegas reached a record 120 degrees during the peak of summer. The Clark County Coroner’s Office found that heat was a factor in more than 500 deaths. Now, city, county and local advocates are planting thousands of trees to help bring down temperatures in the hottest neighborhoods. Trees can have a significant impact on mitigating heat.
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Ryan Kellman/NPR
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Trees in the desert are like oxygen at high altitude — scarce and precious.
During a recent spring tree giveaway sponsored by Nevada’s Clark County, the team had a couple of hundred young trees ready and lined up for residents. All the trees disappeared within an hour.
Lulu Banks was eligible for two free trees. That’s because her neighborhood in North Las Vegas is a designated “urban heat island” — a specific area that’s hotter than other neighborhoods, in part because of lack of shade.
Two tall palm trees tower above the road, with little other vegetation in sight. In older neighborhoods and mobile home communities like Desert Inn Estates, palm trees and cactuses are common, providing a unique visual aesthetic but minimal shade. Local leaders are now opting for nonnative, drought-tolerant trees that can offer better shade coverage.
“There’s a lot of complexity involved in the process of planting trees,” Daseler emphasizes.
Teaching the next generation
The initiative to plant trees has also extended to schools, where garden clubs are being established.
One weekend this spring, students and parents came together in the garden at Booker Elementary School. The students worked on planting trees, fruits, and vegetables in designated beds, each spelling out S-T-E-M (for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
“Don’t overwater plants, but they do need some water to thrive and grow,” explained third-grader Donovan Pantoja.
His mother, Natalie Hernandez, mentioned that the project imparts valuable life lessons and instills a sense of environmental awareness in children.
“And then they may pass on these teachings to their own children,” she added. “Hopefully, this mindset will continue to spread and contribute to the conservation of our planet.”
Yvette Fernandez serves as the regional reporter based in Las Vegas for the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaborative effort between Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KANW in New Mexico, KUNC in Colorado, KUNR in Nevada, Nevada Public Radio, and Wyoming Public Media, with the support of affiliate stations across the region.
message in a more formal tone:
“Hey there! How are you doing today?”
“Hello, I hope you are well. How are you today?” sentence:
The sun sets in the west.
Rewritten sentence: The sun goes down in the west.
