Edith de Guzman and the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative in The Los Angeles Times: As second heat wave sears California, experts say health impacts will worsen with climate change

A recent study by the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, which is developing strategies to combat urban heat, found that widespread tree planting and retrofitting of roofs and streets with solar-reflective surfaces could cool down Los Angeles enough to reduce heat-related illnesses and deaths by more than 25%.

“As scary as it is — and sometimes it feels really doom and gloom — the work that we’ve been doing … is fundamentally optimistic,” said Edith de Guzman, director of research for the environmental group TreePeople who directs the collaborative. “Because even though we’re in this boat together that’s kind of sinking, we’re like OK, hang on, we can actually have a positive impact. We can actually save lives.”