A tour of the sound and heat hellscape that is L.A.

"Blanca Lucio likes to spend her mornings tending to her zucchinis, cucumbers, watermelons and traditional Mexican herbs at a small community garden near downtown Los Angeles. With its cool, damp air, the garden brims with what Lucio calls "magic." The only sound comes from green June bugs buzzing by her ears and children playing at the community center across the street."

"Noise pollution and excessive heat can seem inescapable in L.A. What would the city be without random bursts of fireworks and car sound systems thumping loud enough to shake you from your dreams? And the nearly 365-days-a-year sunshine is practically what defines L.A. sunshine, even though it means commuters often must wait under the blazing sun at bus stops that lack cover."

Blanca Lucio tends zucchinis, cucumbers, watermelons and traditional Mexican herbs at a small community garden near downtown Los Angeles, where cool, damp air creates a restorative atmosphere. Urban Los Angeles features pervasive noise from fireworks, car sound systems, busy roads and airports, alongside nearly year-round sunshine that leaves many bus stops shadeless. Noise pollution and excessive heat together pose health threats, harming the nervous system and disproportionately affecting vulnerable residents with fewer protections. Climate change intensifies heat waves, and the Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 1,300 annual deaths from extreme heat, a figure expected to grow.

Read at Los Angeles Times