Simulating how tree cover reduces heat wave exposure and health risks for the elderly in italian cities

The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of tree cover on hours of heat wave exposure and health risk consequences for ten Italian cities. The objectives included: 1) parameterizing the i-Tree Cool Air model (Yang et al., 2013) with European land cover and meteorological data to simulate the hourly air temperature and humidity for historical heat waves as a function of base case tree cover and an alternative case with at least 30% tree cover; and 2) quantifying with National Italian Census data the hours of exposure to extreme heat for people 65 yr old and older each city neighborhood. We calculated the base case air temperature and alternative scenario potential cooling provided by 30% tree cover for the hottest hour of 2003. We show a selection of five city: Torino, Bologna, Roma, Bari and Palermo (see Figure 1), and the base case extreme heat risk and alternative scenario potential risk reduction provided by 30% tree cover for all of 2003.