Trees improve air and water quality, reduce flooding, decrease energy needs, increase property values and improve the quality of life for people and wildlife around them. The advantages of having trees are numerous and seemingly ever-growing. Trees aren’t just nice to have—they're critical infrastructure that provide ecosystem services to our communities.
Trees and Our Environment
Trees help improve the urban environment in a multitude of ways! Benefits include:
- Removing pollution from the air and soil making our environment cleaner.
- Trees are so good at removing pollutants, they can be used for environmental remediation—the process by which polluted land can be cleaned up and redeveloped.
- Absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
- Absorbing stormwater, which reduces flooding during storms.
- Lowering urban temperatures—it can be up to 25 degrees F cooler under the shade of a tree! Trees help reduce the urban heat island effect (hotter temperatures in downtown areas caused by concrete, asphalt, and other built surfaces). Trees cool the area around them in two ways: by shading surfaces and through evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is the process by which trees release water through their leaves (transpire) and the water then evaporates. Evaporation requires energy to occur, which makes it a cooling process. The result is that as the water evaporates it dissipates the heat in and around the tree and cools the air in the area encompassing the tree. In this way, trees act like nature’s air conditioners!
- Provide urban habitat for birds, squirrels, insects and other wildlife.
Trees and Public Health
Being around trees improves physical and mental health, and the health of entire communities! Below are some examples of how trees improve health:
- Exposure to trees has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety and depression.
- People are more likely to exercise with trees or parks nearby, which decreases health risks.
- Trees are associated with a decrease in risk for heart disease and skin cancer.
- Trees and parks can facilitate a greater sense of community, bringing more unity and support to neighborhoods.
- Crime rates and rates of domestic violence are lower in communities with trees.
- Incidents of heat related injury are lower in areas with greater canopy coverage.
- Acting as noise breaks, trees can reduce stress or restlessness associated with excessive noise from nearby traffic, construction, and sounds from industrial facilities.
- Trees can buffer air pollution by catching pollutants and preventing their spread to nearby areas. Leaves capture particulate from the air, which keeps us from breathing it in.
- Trees absorb and slow rainwater and runoff, which improves water quality.
Economic Benefits of Trees
Trees benefit homeowners and communities by saving money:
- Shade from well-placed trees cools structures, which can reduce air conditioning costs in buildings.
- Trees act as wind breaks and when strategically planted, reduce heating costs in winter.
- Trees can reduce flood damages absorbing water from heavy rains and slowing the rate at which rivers rise.
- Trees act as wind breaks and can reduce damage from high winds and storms.
- Trees can increase property values.
Green infrastructure like trees provides more benefits over time for less cost than traditional gray infrastructure – which offers less benefits over time and requires more maintenance. Check out iTree to calculate the benefits of trees near you.
