Chasing the shade: Hottest day preceded by wettest year

Every Monday we meet at the Electric Depot and go for a little bike ride. We set off at 6 p.m. and most of the time I have a story to tell along the way. Last night, there was only one story to be told and it was all about the HEAT!

I affectionately dubbed it the “Chasing the Shade” ride, because that’s literally what we did. We went down the most shaded roads because last night was in the top three hottest days this summer.

That ride took us through the Garden District, then to Hundred Oaks, then back through Capitol Heights. All of those neighborhoods have massive oak trees because they were planted there when the neighborhoods were first constructed in the 1920s.

I know it’s hard to believe, especially if you went outside today - the literally hottest day of the year so far - but this summer hasn’t been too bad. In fact, up until the last month, it’s been relatively nice. I haven’t had to water my plants very much at all. That’s all thanks to an abundance of wet weather.

Louisiana is the wettest state in the contiguous U.S. Basically, Hawaii is the only state that beats us. I had a chat with Meteorologist Jared Silverman and he filled me in that the Baton Rouge Metro area has gotten 63 inches of rain so far this year. To put that in perspective, 75 inches in a year classifies an area as a rainforest.

WHAT?!?!

So why have we had so much rain this year? Climate change? I bet it’s climate change. Is it climate change?

Well, not so fast. According to Jared, the answer is no. He says this particular wet weather event is not likely attributed to climate change but rather due to a shifting weather pattern, which is not uncommon, but is generating historic numbers for our region. Hitting 63 inches by this time this year IS a record for Louisiana.

Now, all the hurricanes we’ve dealt with, that, he says, IS attributed to climate change.

What we should take away from this wet year is that our drainage infrastructure is just not going to cut it (a point that should come as no real surprise). A tree knows what to do with all the rain, but concrete cannot.

Stupid concrete.

Trees, on the other hand, are smart! Do you know they talk to each other? I’ve never had a conversation with concrete that didn’t end in tears.

As we learned last night, trees provide some incredible value to a city. Not only do they give us shade for bike rides, but they help soak up all that rain! Yeah, sure, they also drop limbs on our houses and cause bumps in our roads, but the benefits far outweigh the problems, so long as you do a little smart planning.

To end this, here’s a little plant food for thought; mass planting trees could be the key to transforming our cities. Want some proof? Read this article from CNBC and go down a Google spiral.