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Could more trees help fight the heat?

City leaders are working to plant more and more trees around town.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Parts of South Texas have been experiencing temperatures 20 to 30 degrees hotter than normal this spring. The National Weather Service says it's the early season heat dome.

Are trees the answer to the soaring heat? 

City Councilmember Sylvia Campos believes we need more trees planted throughout the city.

"I know that I personally, where I live, I try to promote my neighbors to plant trees along the median between the storm and the sidewalk," Campos said. "And some of them cooperated and some of them didn't."

According to the U.S. Forest Service, tree canopy cover reduces temperatures 11 to 19 degrees compared to communities with no tree cover.

City Parks and Recreation director Robert Dodd says the City has been working on adding trees for years. 

"We understand that the heat is tough on our patrons at the parks, and over the last couple of years that I've been the director we've planted almost 400 trees throughout the city, well at least, in our parks and we're going to continue to do that," Dodd said.

A recent perception survey conducted by the Downtown Management District found 88 percent of those responding think the city needs more trees.

In Corpus Christi, you can find streets that are lush with trees and other streets that are bare of greenery.

That is changing at least in the downtown business district with spaces for not only the trees, but ground cover around the trees.

According to Mayor Paulette Guajardo, the City is trying to get residential developers involved as well.  

"We did bring forth an ordinance that requires trees to be planted with every new home built, so one in the front, one in the back," Guajardo said.

The mayor says the city's partnership with TXU Energy has also resulted in hundreds of plantings.

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