NEW YORK: A climate change laboratory in New York City’s 843-acre Central Park, researchers seek to help parks nationwide become more adaptable.

The Central Park Climate Lab team intends to explore seasonal patterns and how plants and animals respond to changing weather.

“We also want to understand how the park is part of the solution,” says Karen Seto of the Yale School of the Environment.

“How much carbon does the park sequester? How much cooling relief does the park offer to both people who come to the park, but also residents around the park?”

New York’s Central Park Conservancy and Natural Areas Conservancy founded the lab earlier this year.

“Cities are going to have to be part of the climate change solution,” said Seto. “We’re hoping to inform policy in terms of how best to manage the assets here in the park … so that the green space can continue to provide cooling relief, cleaning air, etc.”

Over the last decade, Central Park has experienced torrential rain, blizzards, high winds, and extreme heat and cold.

After 10 days of rain, Hurricane Ida dumped 3.15 inches of rain on the park in September 2021.

The Central Park Conservancy’s tree care manager, Peter Haupt, said the project is installing tools to measure incremental growth of trees.

Haupt, who has worked in the park for almost 13 years, says the goal is to “finally get to some conclusions about how climate change impacts the park.”

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