Central Park adapts to climate change while helping New York stay cool
New York’s Central Park – one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks – is experiencing heavier downpours, flooding and soil erosion, while prolonged heatwaves are putting pressure on the ecosystem as well as visitors. But the park also helps New York cope with the heat. It helps cool the city, clean the air, capture stormwater and gives people a place to escape the heat under the trees. The temperature in the park can be around 5°Celsius (10°F) lower than on surrounding streets, according to the Central Park Climate Lab.
UN News/Evgeniya Kleshcheva
People ride bicycles through Central Park in New York City.
“Central Park and urban parks are so much more than just recreation spaces,” said Yanina Kupava, a Director at the Central Park Conservancy. “They are vital urban green infrastructure.”UN News visited Central Park on a hot summer day, just weeks before world leaders gather at UN Headquarters for the General Assembly’s General Debate. As politicians and experts discuss how cities can adapt to a warming planet, some of those solutions can already be seen just a few blocks away in the park.Plants for a new climateIf the main challenge in the 1980s was restoring the park – which had suffered from years of neglect after the 1970s fiscal crisis – today the priority is to preserve its historic landscape in the face of a changing climate. The Park’s celebrated crabapple alleys, for example, have become one of its most spectacular sights in spring, when branches burst into white, pink and purple blossom. Park staff say the setting is so romantic that the number of marriage proposals there is “wild”.But winters that are too warm could prevent apple trees from flowering altogether, while spells of warm weather in February can cause magnolias and cherry trees to bloom too soon.
