Urban Shade Trees Threatened by Invasive Beetle as Cities Combat Heat Islands with New Grant Funding.

As cities become increasingly hot, urban shade trees are losing their prime locations to an invasive Asian beetle, the emerald ash borer. The tree canopies are crucial in combatting climate change’s effects, but they face a growing threat that could leave some neighborhoods without life-saving shade. The new Biden administration program recently awarded $1.1 billion in grant funding for urban tree planting, particularly in heat-island neighborhoods known as shade deserts. Other cities have taken a more aggressive approach by removing all ash trees from city streets and parks on the premise that every ash will eventually die. In Minneapolis, more than 48 percent of the city’s population, or 276,000 people, live on heat islands where asphalt and buildings raise temperatures by up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit.