Trees, parks, and green façades can make cities more resilient in the face of climate change. The potential is particularly great in two regions of the world. More plants in cities could significantly reduce the number of heat-related fatalities. According to a study, if vegetation in urban areas worldwide were to increase by 30 per cent, the number of heat-related deaths would decrease by around one third. City dwellers in southern and eastern Europe as well as in south and east Asia stand to benefit most from this greening, writes the international research team led by Yuming Guo from Australia's Monash University in the journal "The Lancet Planetary Health".

As global warming increases, so does the risk of heat-related health problems – particularly for children and older people. Urban residents are considered especially vulnerable, as cities heat up more strongly during the day and cool down more slowly at night. Just recently, a German study on Karlsruhe found that increasing the city's tree cover by at least 30 per cent could reduce the annual number of extreme heat hours there by almost two thirds.

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