Counter-shading

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Nifty water camouflage practised by dolphins, porpoises, some fish and other neat sea creatures. The simple strategy: look light like the sky for anyone below, and look dark like the sea for anyone above.

Published 17 Jun 2015

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An urban area next to a more natural rural area showing how the urban area gets hotter than the surrounding land

Heat islands

Two people are loving soaking up the low winter rays of sun in a park

Apricity

Notice when you're happy: advice from Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex to stop and say "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

Notice when you're happy: If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is

The side of a pyramid of needs: physiological, safety, love-belonging, esteem, self-actualization

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Fact tennis

Ponderosa pine and its bark listing out some of the fire protections it has

Ponderosa pine fire protections

Heat islands are urban areas that can have higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas with more greenery. Heat islands are caused by several factors, including: the types of materials we use in cities for buildings, pavement, and roads that can absorb more heat than natural surfaces such as leaves or grass human additions to the sun's heat, such as air conditioning, vehicles, cooking, or machinery the shapes of our cities that may restrict airflow to carry heat away the mass of our buildings that can absorb heat and release it gradually, even through the night More natural, often rural areas with greenery may reflect more light, release moisture and provide shade. There are ways to help reduce the effect of heat islands, such as planting more urban trees or using green roofs. Deciduous trees have the handy feature of providing shade for a house in the summer while letting light through in the winter when the leaves fall. A study using 2015 data found that "doubling tree cover in European cities could cut the number of heat-related deaths during summer months by nearly 40 per cent." In Columbia's Medellín, creating 30 Green Corridors helped to reduce temperatures by 2°C in the first three years of the program. Learn more about the heat island effect on the EPA site.…Heat islands are urban areas that can have higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas with more greenery. Heat islands are caused by several factors, including: the types of materials we use in cities for buildings, pavement, and roads that can absorb more heat than natural surfaces such as leaves or grass human additions to the sun's heat, such as air conditioning, vehicles, cooking, or machinery the shapes of our cities that may restrict airflow to carry heat away the mass of our buildings that can absorb heat and release it gradually, even through the night More natural, often rural areas with greenery may reflect more light, release moisture and provide shade. There are ways to help reduce the effect of heat islands, such as planting more urban trees or using green roofs. Deciduous trees have the handy feature of providing shade for a house in the summer while letting light through in the winter when the leaves fall. A study using 2015 data found that "doubling tree cover in European cities could cut the number of heat-related deaths during summer months by nearly 40 per cent." In Columbia's Medellín, creating 30 Green Corridors helped to reduce temperatures by 2°C in the first three years of the program. Learn more about the heat island effect on the EPA site.

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