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As the Climate Changes, Cities Scramble to Find Trees That Will Survive

Summary

Laura Hautala explores how climate change is reshaping the urban landscape, prompting cities like Tacoma, Washington, to seek drought-tolerant trees from regions like Northern California. As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns shift, traditional tree species face unprecedented challenges, leading to declines in leafy cover and increasing vulnerability to pests. Urban arborists emphasize the urgent need for strategic tree planting to enhance resilience against heat and mitigate the urban heat island effect. However, finding suitable tree varieties for each region becomes a frantic race against time, with researchers exploring diverse species from distant ecosystems and experimenting with propagation techniques to ensure future urban forests thrive in the face of climate uncertainty.

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