Score one more for the great outdoors. According to a study published by the USDA Forest Service, America’s trees help save more than 850 lives every year and prevent 670,000 episodes of acute respiratory symptoms.
Researchers analyzed data on pollution, weather, tree cover (the amount of land covered by trees), and how concentrations of four different air pollutants affect human health for every single county in the lower 48 states. In addition to the live-saving stats above, they found that urban areas see the greatest benefit from trees' ability to trap and absorb air pollutants while producing nice, clean oxygen.
“Urban areas account for only 3% of total land use in the US, but they see almost 66% of the health benefits of all trees,” says David Nowak, PhD, study author and project leader with the USDA Forest Service. Why? Simply because there are more people there to feel the effects of the pollution reduction. That probably explains why New York County (which encompasses o-so-crowded Manhattan) saw the biggest benefit of all.
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You can get in on the pollution-reducing action by volunteering to plant trees in your area at arborday.org.
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Emma Haak is an associate editor at Prevention, covering beauty and health. She grew up outside Boston, went to college in Chicago, and now lives in New York City, so she's clearly into cold weather. She's also an avid half-marathoner, action movie watcher, and skin and hair product junkie. See what she's up to @emmahaak27.