Most of LA’s trees are in wealthy, white neighborhoods. This school is smashing concrete to plant their own | US news

S.Na on the last Saturday morning at Washington Elementary School STEM MAGNET in Pasadina, CaliforniaA group of volunteers and employees from Amigos de Los Rios The soil has been transferred to a new garden of original plants that support local habitats such as butterflies, tanna and bees. They also filled 37 beds of planting that will grow fresh vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes for students to eat.

Before the local non-profit institution started in this work, the first title school-which was attended by Latin and black students in the first place of low-income families-was largely preserved and lacking trees and had one wooden theater that the children were waiting for their patience to play at home to enjoy the shelters of the sun.

They created an outdoor semester with soft rocks to sit under the shadow of the giant oak tree, and they installed the rain garden and parts of the heat -absorbing asphalt in favor of plants that bear dryness with layers of mulch. They planted 26 climate trees (with more in the future) and added registry trunks seats, three new games and colored designs drawn on the ground.

Gardens, trees, and other green spaces are very important to the health and well -being of children, but in areas such as Los Angeles, there is an unequal arrival of millions of residents.

almost 20 % Among the total umbrella of the city, it is concentrated in five white and wealthy blocks in the first place with only 1 % of the city’s population. At the state level, more than 2.5 million students enroll in schools where less than 5 % of their university campus is covered Tree Far from 30 % to 50 % of the shaded coverage recommended by urban forests and heatman experts who would help children protect children from severe heat. This contrast in tree cover is not a coincidence, but as a result of re -decline, decades of time Environmental injustice And other racist policies in urban neighborhoods.

Groups like amigos de los rios try to block the gap. “[Green spaces] “A big difference has occurred in what it has become and what is available to you,” said Claire Robinson, Managing Director, Manager, who founded Amigos de Los Rios in 2003 to serve environmental variations on the eastern side of Los Angeles Province.

Under the leadership of Robinson, the group, called Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers, “Grened”, was about 30 schools in the Los Angeles region societies, many of which were directly affected by the last Etone fire. In January, non -profit organizations lost their offices in Blaze, and Robinson and other employees saw their homes destroyed, tragic losses that emphasize the importance of their work while intensifying climate change forest fires, hot days and storm events.

“The climate change does not go far and that the children were already in the past year for several days due to excessive heat warnings,” said Robinson, who pointed out that the asphalt -based asphalt used in many public schools can reach temperatures from 160 to 170 degrees on hot days.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the health effects caused by heat, such as dehydration, hot rash, heat fatigue, and heat beating. High temperatures can also affect academic performance: one Ticket It showed that students’ exposure to hot days, above 27c (80f), reduced exams among high school students in New York City, also affected graduation rates.

Research predicts that two -thirds of the United States will experience twice the number 100 degrees days By the middle of the century. But the trees offer a simple solution. In addition to cooling our cities by up to 10 degrees, trees reduce particle pollution, which is a major shareholder in asthmaWonderful play equipment helps protect children from UV rays, absorb stormy water and low air conditioning costs for schools. Other studies have shown that green schools, reaching nature reduces stress, encouraging physical activity and relieving mental fatigue.

They are also an essential part of the future of youth: modern USC Ticket I showed that urban La trees absorb the carbon more than expected.

“The green area not only supports childhood development-it is charging the super.”

Even in comparison with other city children, those in Los Angeles are especially deprived of green spaces, with only 36 % of children in Los Angeles Province live at a quarter -mile level of the park, compared to 91 % in New York and 85 % in San Francisco, according to the preservation box. Inspired by almost 100 years Plans To create more than 200,000 acres of gardens in Los Angeles, Robinson’s vision is to create the so -called emerald necklace: a network of green spaces, schools, parks, and paths that extend from the Saint Gabriel National Forest to the Pacific Ocean.

The efforts made to address the shares of trees and justice shadow were built for years and the city was the city Be praised As the leadership of the Urban Agriculture Revolution with groups such as Treepeopleand Koreatown Youth + Center Center And the northeast trees help add thousands of Tree To the umbrella of the city every year.

Not just Los Angeles; There are similar groups that make green efforts in urban areas all the time California And the rest of the United States.

Tree Pittsburgh helps protect its urban forests by planting trees, care, education and land preservation. “The trees are a positive antithesis for Tikhak,” said Jonathan Vantazi, a former teacher who runs the Pittsburgh tree on the Titterspirig program for each child, who gives students a practical experience that instills a sense of pride and environmental responsibility. “Children today hear a bird that sings on the phone screen before seeing a real bird sings.”

since 70 % The world’s population in cities is expected to live by 2050, as urban green efforts today are very important for a flexible future.

Over the past ten years, Fantazier has noticed that Pittsburgh schools are obliged to close in hot days because old buildings do not have air conditioning. He has also seen closures due to the water problems resulting from storms. In Los Angeles, children can also be kept inside due to air quality problems, excessive heat and smoke in the wild.

Although the green efforts in the school seem to be irrational, Amigos de Los Rios and other similar organizations in thinking can face a review of school councils, provincial lawyers and facilities directors who may not know the difference between a factory that endures drought and weeds.

In Bronx, New York region with the highest asthma rates in the state, non -profit Bronx opens Local youth who, with a team of dedicated volunteers, coach more than 20,000 trees in 20 gardens and green spaces since 2011. In New Mexico, the last major effort to grow trees in the 1930s has occurred, which means that many of these trees die. Let’s plant the Bucker It is a community alliance with a goal that sows 100,000 new trees in the city by 2030.

Today’s children spend less time outdoors than any other generation – less than 10 minutes day. Journalist and author Richard Loew calls this modern phenomenon.Nature disorder disorder“Urban greenery and environmental education for children can help re -communicate with nature and reduce The effect of the heat island This is common in Los Angeles neighborhoods that have a lot of surface of paved heat (and as Asian, black and Latin people are likely to live).

“We are in this heat case forever.”

“If it is 95 degrees abroad, you will have temperatures a great challenge of public health,” said Robinson, who said that many students in schools in the first address are present throughout the summer. “It is not difficult to grow a tree and create a care community to care for the tree. What is impossible is to condemn people based on the place where they are born and not to ensure that there is just access to the green school for everyone.”