Just off the Turnpike in Boca Raton is an incubator for nearly 20 teens who spend their Saturdays clipping away at a problem beaming down on us all.
“Every time I walk outside and it’s hot, I think about my job,” says Reginald Richardson, with Community Greening’s Youth Tree Team.
Community Greening is a collective movement that started eight years ago to increase the number of trees in South Florida. Today, it’s responsible for planting more than 18,000 trees.
Trees have a magical quality because they prevent stormwater runoff by slowing the fall of rain; thus, cleaning the water and air. Trees are also essential for cooling down outdoor spaces.
“Trees are probably the one thing that are most efficient at fighting climate change and keeping us a bit cooler,” says Josh Weiner, Director of Engagement and Communications for Community Greening.
The National Weather Service in Miami and Melbourne Offices say this summer will go down as the fifth warmest for Palm Beach County, the fourth warmest for Fort Pierce and 3rd warmest summer for Vero Beach based on data collected from June through August. Over the same three-month span, forecasters say West Palm Beach had 66 days where temperatures topped out at 90 degrees or hotter. Fort Pierce saw 62 days and Vero Beach 63 days of 90-degree temperatures or higher, according to NWS data.