The detailed Rx for Hot Cities report, released this year by local nonprofit TreePeople and a group of researchers and urban practitioners called the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collective, suggests that if Los Angeles implements ambitious measures to increase tree cover and heat-reflective urban infrastructure, “Angelenos could enjoy a climate in the year 2070 that is like the climate in the year 2020.”

UCLA IoES Ph.D. candidate, Edith de Guzman co-founded and leads the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, a multi-disciplinary, national partnership of universities, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and government agencies seeking data-driven, inclusive strategies for cooling urban areas and protecting vulnerable communities from heat-related health risks using urban forests and increased reflectivity.