Blazing heat, choking pollution and skyrocketing electric bills. What’s one way to combat all these problems at once? Plant trees.

Trouble is, compared to other large cities, the Dallas area doesn’t have nearly enough.

But a dedicated corps of volunteers stands ready to fulfill a mission that could make life better for us all: plant more trees and cool down our urban oceans of concrete.

They’re training to be “citizen foresters.”

To fully understand the benefits of trees in the city, you have to go where there are no trees in the city. When the outside temperature hits 100 degrees, the temperature on the pavement can hit 120 degrees. But where city streets are lined with trees, the temperature on the pavement can check in at 90 degrees. That’s almost 30 degrees cooler.

But how many trees should be planted? And where?

Other cities around the country have counted trees by hand. But that takes 10 years or more.

Eventually, a high-tech camera will fly over the city and identify the variety, quantity, and location of the city’s trees.

Armed with this information, the army of volunteers will be sent to places like Harry Hines Boulevard, where trees are few and far between.

And the planting can begin.