Nashville Is Heating Up

(Not in a Good Way)

As Middle Tennessee feels the increasing impact of climate change, summer days at our beautiful public parks have become harder to enjoy. 

The good news? There’s something we can do about it. 

We all know the difference a beautiful shade tree can make on a hot summer day. So at Nashville Tree Conservation Corps, we analyzed all 148 public parks in Metro Nashville to find the ones most in need of additional shade.

The goal? To encourage Metro to prioritize these areas for tree conservation and planting, so our parks can be havens for all Nashvillians now and for generations to come.

Why Shade Matters

According to the EPA, shade can lower surface temperatures by 20-45 degrees. Here in Nashville, that’s the difference between a beautiful day and a potentially dangerous one. 

But the benefits reach much farther than that. By protecting existing trees and planting new ones, we’re also improving:

• Air quality

• Water quality

• Greenhouse gas emissions

• Stormwater management

• Overall quality of life

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Our Methodology

Our team looked at four metrics for each of the 148 parks and then combined those metrics to come up with a “Heat Score” for each one. Here are the metrics we used:

• Park Canopy Score: The percentage of the park that has shade canopy

• Area Canopy Score: The percentage of the surrounding neighborhood that has shade canopy

• Heat Ranking: The score assigned to the park by the Nashville Heat Exposure Index

• Climate and Economic Justice Score: Results from the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool showing which parks are disadvantaged due to underinvestment and overpollution 

By aggregating these four metrics, we can see a clear picture of which parks are most urgently in need of attention and advocacy.

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