Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35082304›Full record

ArticleNature communications2022

Global climate-driven trade-offs between the water retention and cooling benefits of urban greening.

M O Cuthbert, G C Rau, M Ekström, D M O'Carroll, A J Bates

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Global urban greening and its implication for urban heat mitigation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

M O CuthbertSchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. cuthbertm2@cardiff.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6721-022X
G C RauInstitute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4641-5255
M EkströmSchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9716-2337
D M O'CarrollSchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-226X
A J BatesSchool of Animal, Rural & Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7854-5260

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Urban greening can potentially help mitigate heat-related mortality and flooding facing the >4 billion urban population worldwide. However, the geographical variation of the relative combined hydrological and thermal performance benefits of such interventions are unknown. Here we quantify globally, using a hydrological model, how climate-driven trade-offs exist between hydrological retention and cooling potential of urban greening such as green roofs and parks. Using a Budyko framework, we show that water retention generally increases with aridity in water-limited environments, while cooling potential favors energy-limited climates. Our models suggest that common urban greening strategies cannot yield high performance simultaneously for addressing both urban heat-island and urban flooding problems in most cities globally. Irrigation, if sustainable, may enhance cooling while maintaining retention performance in more arid locations. Increased precipitation variability with climate change may reduce performance of thinner green-infrastructure more quickly compared to greened areas with thicker soils and root systems. Our results provide a conceptual framework and first-order quantitative guide for urban development, renewal and policymaking.

Identifiers

PMID35082304
PMCPMC8792007

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.