WUFT-TV/FM | WJUF-FM
1200 Weimer Hall | P.O. Box 118405
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 392-5551

A service of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

© 2025 WUFT / Division of Media Properties
News and Public Media for North Central Florida
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Special Project: The Cold, Hard Facts
Air conditioning has long been a fact of life in Florida, the hottest state in the nation. Rising temperatures mean AC is increasingly a matter of life and death. 

Nature's solutions

From urban tree plantings to solutions inspired by the animal kingdom, nature offers some powerful ways to cool our communities and homes.
UF forest systems graduate student Ross Barreto measures a Gainesville oak as part of a new catalogue of the city’s tree canopy.
Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp/WUFT News
Environment
Shady solution
Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp
Trees – the world’s natural air conditioning – can help cool cities and reduce reliance on energy-heavy AC.
Gopher tortoise
Cat Wofford/UF/IFAS
/
UF/IFAS Communications
Environment
Keeping cool in the animal kingdom
Alissa Gary
Pete Cameron, 81, avoids using AC in his home, which is shaded by six large oak trees. “When it’s brutally hot,” Cameron said, “I’ll go out in the trees, but I won’t go under the sun.”
Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira/WUFT News
Environment
AC-free and cooled by the trees
Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira