A new study by the National Forrest Service has shown that trees save approximately eight hundred and fifty (850) lives on a yearly basis. According to the study, they do so by removing pollution from the air.
The study has shown that trees remove certain chemicals – such as carbon dioxide – from the air, thus preventing illness or even death in other, carbon based life forms, such as humans. Aside from the eight hundred and fifty lives that they save each year, trees have also been shown to help people with acute respiratory distress – which affects over six hundred and seventy thousand people per year.
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Certain gases – most notably Nitrogen, Ozone, Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide – have been linked to several diseases, but, as the study shows, trees are able to suck up a certain amount of these gases and exhaling gases that are more useful to humans, most notably oxygen.
While eight hundred and fifty lives may not seem like a lot, but if the prevention of respiratory problems and they alleviation of many other breathing related illnesses are taken into account, trees save the economy a staggering seven billion dollars in health care costs every year.
The study also went on to note that where trees are placed has a significant effect on the removal of pollution, as well as the effect that this will end up having on the health of people. According to the report:
“In terms of impact on human health, trees in urban areas are substantially more important than rural trees due to their proximity to people. We found that in general, the greater the tree cover, the greater the pollution removal, and the greater the removal and population density, the greater the value of human health benefits.”
Deborah Campbell
