Trees save more than 850 lives per year and prevent approximately 670,000 incidents of acute respiratory symptoms, according to a new study published in the October 2014 issue of Environmental Pollution.
Not surprisingly, researchers found that pollution removal was substantially higher in rural areas than in urban areas, due to greater tree cover.
The effects on human health, however, are substantially greater in urban areas than in rural areas because the trees are in closer proximity to people.
The trees’ pollution removal amounted to an average air quality improvement of less than one percent. That may not sound like much, but researchers estimate the effect on human health is worth nearly $7 billion per year.
“With more than 80 percent of Americans living in urban area, this research underscores how truly essential urban forests are to people across the nation,” said Michael T. Rains, co-author of the study, in a news release.
If you would like to make a difference, donate money to help plant trees around the world as part of The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees effort.
Source: Design & Trend
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