Stay Comfortable, Cool, and Safe
FIND SHADE
Where do you #CatchShade?
Post your favorite shade spot–tag @impactmelanoma and use #CatchShade
Take Action
contact your city council
install a shade sail in your playground
protect your family at the beach
support an adopt-a-tree organization
How Can You Impact Shade?
As we navigate increasing temperatures due to climate change, we want to make outdoor activity safer and more comfortable for everyone. Shade equity is fundamental, and IMPACT Melanoma has assembled a team of scientists, architects, doctors, and community leaders, combining our diverse backgrounds and resources to find solutions.
We’re striving to raise awareness about the importance of shade, install protective structures in areas that need it most, and create policies that will demand shade in new development while funding shade for neighborhoods that lack protection.
Help us impact shade by spreading the word about this important initiative! Share this page and help your friends learn more about protecting their skin.
Shade Resources
NY Times articles about lack of shade/lack of trees in LA and other cities nationwide:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/us/los-angeles-shade-climate-change.html
Podcast episode from 99% about Shade in Cities:
Daily Show video about need for trees in low-income neighborhoods:
Skin Cancer Foundation: Great Skin Is Made in the Shade
https://www.skincancer.org/blog/great-skin-is-made-in-the-shade/
CDC’s current shade planning guide: Shade Planning for America’s Schools
Shade trees can help fight the effects of climate change by lowering the temperature of our surroundings. The average temperature can vary up to 10 degrees between neighborhoods with shade trees and those without.
Trees are an incredible asset to communities, lowering air temperatures through evapotranspiration and by providing shade. They also help improve air quality by removing pollutants from the air. In 92% of U.S. communities, low-income neighborhoods have less tree coverage than high-income neighborhoods. This disproportionately affects communities of color and translates into higher rates of respiratory illness, including childhood asthma, hospitalizations, even deaths.
