newscientist.com
Urban trees in south-east England can't cope with the changing climate
It is an unseasonably warm day in September, at the end of a very long, very hot summer. Kevin Martin is sitting in the passenger seat of a golf buggy, staring at a stand of withering beech trees in the middle of Kew Gardens, in south-west London. Where there should be a show of dancing green leaves, there are only wisps of brown curls amid bare branches. Martin is responsible for tending and curating the 11,000-strong tree collection at Kew. But successive heatwaves and a severe drought have been catastrophic for his wards this summer. Across Kew, branches stand bare against clear blue sky and leaves crunch under the feet of visitors, as the stressed trees shed their leaves early in an effort to survive the drought and heat. Martin estimates that at least 400 trees, if not more, will have died this summer at Kew, equal to the record mortality seen in 2022. “It’s disheartening and very distressing to see the amount of tree loss we’re seeing and how the plants, trees are struggling,” he says. “I’d be surprised if I’ve got any common beech left in this garden, because they are all very, very poorly. Because they can’t...
