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You can’t think of New York City without thinking of Central Park.
The 843-acre park welcomes 42 million visitors annually and sees more visits a year than Disney World’s Magic Kingdom at 20.8 million. Additionally, half of New Yorkers say that the only time they spend outdoors is in an indoor environment. Parks in cities.
The iconic landmark, a National Historic Landscape, is more than just a place to walk, bike ride or picnic. Scientists now use it as a climate laboratory to study the relationship between urban parks and climate change.
People who live in densely populated cities are very affected by climate change. New York City residents are aware of the urban heat effect. They live in an area surrounded by asphalt and cement, which allows them to retain extreme heat in the summer.
Trees can, however, provide a cooling effect in urban areas. The light that passes through the tree canopy helps absorb heat from the sun.
“We certainly are living in a warming world,” said Maura Lout, executive director of the Central Park Conservancy Institute. “We know this, and we’ve experienced that in very devastating ways in Central Park over the last several years.”
The Climate Lab is a partnership between the New York-based Natural Areas Conservancy (NY) and the Yale School of the Environment (Yellow). It will enable scientists to understand how climate change affects the park’s landscapes so that they can better manage its long term resilience.
“Our organization has spent years researching the unique role that natural area parkland in cities – forests, wetlands, and grasslands – can play in mitigating climate change,” said Sarah Charlop-Powers, executive director of the Natural Areas Conservancy. “This project will shine a light on the importance of urban natural areas in addressing the climate crisis.”
Last summer was a microcosmof the things researchers have seen in Central Park.
Hurricane Ida brought Central Park a record 3.15 Inches of rain in just an hour on Sept. 1, 2021. This beat the record set just 10 days before.
In July 2021, Central Park was confronted with at least four officials Heat wavesAnd at least two more the month after that.
“Parks are essential for New Yorkers, as this last couple of years have proven, but flooding, high winds and extreme temperatures pose a threat to their health,” said Mayor Eric Adams.
The lab is seeing changes in how plants grow and thrive in the park, in addition to the more severe one-time events and the rise in pollution. A build-up of nutrients in run-off water has caused harmful algal blooms in Central Park’s water bodies.
“What we learn in the Climate Lab is going to be so important for helping other cities integrate the same practices, so they can do their very best to make sure that their park stays safe and welcoming for city dwellers as well,” Lout said.
The lab’s ultimate goal is to work with cities in the US and expand to other parks.
“So much has been accomplished in Central Park through the 40 years of the Conservancy’s work,” Lout said. “We’re really all about sharing that with other urban parks.”
