Having trees on the road around a building can reduce AC and cooling costs by as much as 30 pc. A study conducted on ten major conduits with high traffic density in Bangalore showed that surface air temperatures were significantly cooler under the shade of street trees. In an era of increasing climate change, we cannot afford to ignore this data, writes Harini Nagendra Reeling under the impact of the heat in Bangalore these past few months? You’re not the first to complain. As far back as 1868, a fascinating account is provided of sepoys reporting that “in Bangalore, some twenty years ago their fingers were so benumbed with cold on early morning parades, that they found some difficulty in holding their muskets, whereas they cannot now complain of the cold being in any degree unpleasant.”