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                    Cooling our city

                    Yarra River with path, grass, trees and buildings alongside
                    Urban areas are usually warmer than their rural surroundings, creating what is known as the ‘urban heat island effect’. As cities continue to grow, vegetation is lost and surfaces are paved or covered with buildings, which absorb and radiate heat.

                    ​ As part of our commitment to the Paris Climate agreement, to limit global temperature rise to under 2°C by 2050, we are working towards cooling our city. One way we are doing this is through greening projects, such as tree planting. Our goal is to plant 3000 trees in Melbourne every year to increase the resilience of the urban forest and to cool our city by 4°C.

                    Trees and vegetation can cool our cities by providing shade, reflecting sunlight and by releasing moisture into the air through their leaves in a process called transpiration. We want to see more greening in Melbourne in order to grow our urban forest. 

                    Here are some actions you can take to keep Melbourne cool, healthy and liveable.

                    More information

                    If you’d like to read up on how we are committed to our goal as a city that cares for its environment, you can view all of our related strategies and plans.

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