(Click on the title below to
learn more)Cleaner
Air Quality
Cleaner Water and Less Polluted Runoff
Increased Economic Growth
Reduced Crime and Anxiety
Enhanced Community Life
Relief from Summer Heat
Improved Well-Being
Cleaner
Air Quality
Neighborhood trees sustain our city.
Washington, DC 's air quality may soon fail to meet federally mandated
standards. As a result, the District may lose over $115 million
per year in Federal Highway Administration funds, which currently
pay for road repairs and other transportation infrastructure expenses.
Local trees protect our health.
In 2002, the District reported 31 days of unhealthy air quality.
Air pollution threatens human health, keeping children and teachers
out of school, and increases emergency room visits and health care
costs.
Urban trees decrease asthma-causing
pollutants. Washington, DC suffers
from the highest asthma rate in the nation. Asthma afflicts more
than 1 in 20 of our residents, including more than 10,000 children.
This rate greatly exceeds the national average, which is less than
1 in 50 people. Trees filter many harmful, health-threatening pollutants
from the air.
Cleaner
Water and Less Polluted Runoff
Neighborhood trees reduce flooding.
Trees greatly reduce flooding by allowing rain to seep naturally
into the ground. The loss of tree cover in DC from 1973 to 1997
resulted in a 34% increase in storm water runoff and a 64% reduction
in heavy tree cover. Since much of this runoff is collected in the
same pipes as sewage, sewer backups and basement flooding have also
increased.
Local trees protect our rivers.
The District's rivers fail to meet federal water quality standards.
Polluted storm water runoff and the discharge of raw sewage into
the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers from our Combined Sewer Overflow
(CSO) system are two major reasons for this failure. Less than an
inch of rainfall can pour sewage into our rivers. Trees with mature
canopies can absorb the first half-inch of rainfall, reducing the
impact of CSOs on our rivers. And the more storm water infiltrates
into the ground, the less pollution it sweeps into our rivers from
parking lots and streets.
Increased
Economic Growth
Neighborhood trees increase property values.
Residences with healthy trees sell for 10-20% more than those without
them.
Street trees promote tourism and
encourage local business. 700,000
tourists visit our city each year for the annual Cherry Blossom
Festival. Visitors and local customers spend 12% more at tree-lined
stores than at those without trees.
Reduced
Crime and Anxiety
Street trees create better neighborhoods.
Research has demonstrated that residents living in greener communities
report lower levels of fear, less anxiety, and lower levels of crime.
Trees help reduce stress and violence.
Green spaces and trees help foster a sense of community, making
them particularly valuable in inner-city neighborhoods. Studies
have shown that contact with nature reduces the incidence of aggression
and violence, and improves concentration in youth. Residents living
in greener surroundings report lower levels of fear, fewer incivilities,
and less violent behavior.
Enhanced
Community Life
Neighborhood trees offer rest and recreation.
Trees create natural places to sit, stroll, nap, talk, climb, and
play.
Local trees support wildlife.
Many birds, small animals, and insects rely on trees for food and
shelter.
City trees reflect cultural values.
Throughout history, trees have been important elements in memorials
and urban design, enabling us to share our heritage with new generations.
Relief
from Summer Heat
Neighborhood trees save energy and money.
Homes with three well-placed shade trees enjoy summer air conditioning
costs up to 40% lower than homes without them.
Local trees offer haven. Tree
canopies provide refreshing shade for parks, streets, and parking
lots.
Street trees cool down the city.
City temperatures typically average 10 degrees higher than suburban
temperatures. In 2002 in the District, more than half the days from
June through August were above 90 degrees. In addition to providing
shade, trees emit water vapor that cools hot air.
Urban forests slow climate change.
By lowering temperatures, urban trees reduce our energy consumption
and decrease power plant emissions that contribute to global climate
change. Urban trees also use photosynthesis to rid the atmosphere
of carbon dioxide, the primary gas responsible for global warming.
Improved
Well-Being
Neighborhood trees aid growth and health.
Children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD)
are better able to concentrate, complete tasks, and follow directions
after playing in natural, outdoor "green spaces." Natural
environments improve adult health, as well: patients return home
more quickly from hospitals where trees are visible.
Local trees improve the view.
Trees help reduce the visual impact of the manufactured environment
and poor development. Trees add human scale to large buildings and
projects, screen unsightly areas, and add beauty throughout our
community.
City trees provide peace of mind.
Trees and green spaces in our neighborhoods help relieve the stresses
of a changing world and the everyday pressures of crowding and noise.
|
Plant trees. They give us two of the most crucial
elements for our survival: oxygen and books.
- A. Whitney Brown
What we are doing to the forests of the world
is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and
to one another.
- Mahatma Gandhi
The cultivation of trees is the cultivation of
the good, the beautiful, and the ennobling in man.
- J. Sterling Morton
|
The
Case for Trees
