American cities did not all run hotter than nature around them
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Kucera and colleagues analyzed Landsat greenness and surface temperature in fixed urban footprints and nearby natural references, 1995–2024. Median cities were 0.17 NDVI units less green and 5.09°C warmer, but arid cities were often greener and cooler; annual-composite cities warmed about 22% faster on average than reference areas.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Urban tree strategy is a landscape-water-balance question, not a uniform national cooling template; assess local reference ecology, irrigation demand and measured surface conditions.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Purposive 52-city sample is not nationally representative; satellite land-surface temperature differs from human air-temperature exposure. Irrigation was not directly measured and stricter temporal completeness weakened one warming inference.
SOURCE
Landscape Ecology — Kucera et al. (2026)
View original evidence ↗
Across 52 city pairs, the urban greenness and heat signature reversed between dry and wetter climates.
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