King County and City of Seattle Complete the One-Day Heat Mapping Campaign
On Monday, July 27th, King County and the City of Seattle, in partnership with CAPA Strategies, conducted a heat mapping project to record ground-level temperature data that will help identify which areas are most likely to experience the harmful effects of rising temperatures. Thank you to all our partners and volunteers who made this happen!
Volunteers drove designated routes across King County with measurement devices attached to their passenger windows, collecting temperature, humidity, and GPS data three times throughout the day. The temperature data, collected at one-second intervals, will be used to create a detailed area-wide map of local temperatures that take into account the effects of trees, buildings, and pavement on neighborhood temperatures. The results will help us identify where microclimates of highly heated zones in the county exist, and give us the data we need to plan more equitable and climate resilient communities moving forward.
Though King County experiences cooler summers than many other metropolitan areas in the United States, it also has less cooling infrastructure and fewer homes with air conditioning. Factors like differences in paved surfaces and amount of tree cover can cause temperature differences that can vary as much as twenty degrees between blocks throughout the County, and this project will pinpoint these disparities so that they can be better addressed through policy and planning.
Read some of the media coverage of the heat mapping project here: KUOW, KING5, KIRO 7, and The Seattle Times.
Thank you to all the partners that made this project possible: King County’s Climate Leadership Team; City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability; Seattle Public Utilities; King County’s Agriculture, Forestry, and Incentives Program; NOAA’s National Weather Service; CAPA Strategies.
#ThanksAMillion! King County and Partners Reach Goal of Planting 1 Million Trees by 2020
Thanks to a coalition of cities, nonprofits, schools, volunteers, and employees throughout King County, the county has surpassed its goal of planting one million trees across urban and rural areas by 2020! The 1 Million Trees initiative represents a major milestone in fulfilling the goals laid out in the 2015 SCAP, and the fact that it was achieved early is indicative of the sense of urgency the county has adopted to address climate impacts!
Later this month, Executive Constantine will send King County Council his proposal for the 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan, which will include a 3 Million Trees initiative. Through the proposed 3 Million Trees initiative, King County seeks to not only plant new trees, but also commits to protecting trees and maintaining healthy forests and natural areas as we experience the impacts of climate change. You can read more about this commitment to healthy forests and learn about our 30 Year Forest Plan here.
|
Supporting Our Local Food Economy: Find fresh, local produce near you!
The Local Food Finder, launched by King County in July, is an interactive map that helps you access fresh produce, meat, cheese, and flowers from local farms! You can have groceries delivered to your doorstep, to a nearby pickup location, or can pick them up directly at the farm. Search farms by product or by location to find a local farm to support, or sign up to support a farm’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and receive fresh boxes of harvest weekly!
Additionally, the Local Food Finder has created new opportunities for farmers to connect with new and eager patrons looking for fresh foods, while maintaining a responsible social distance. This new tool will alleviate some of the burdens faced by local farmers because of COVID-19 help to strengthen King County’s local food economy by making fresh and healthy foods more accessible to frontline communities at the click of a button. Growing a vibrant, sustainable, local food economy is vital to supporting a climate resilient King County.
|
|
