Nate Berg

How many trees is enough?

Staff writer at The Atlantic Cities, Nov 01, 11.

Tagged with urbanism, trees, air quality

But a new study suggests that going for that big, round number might not be the best way to add tree cover to a city. Researchers found that paying more attention to where and what types of trees are planted can bring about targeted reductions in the types of air pollutants that contribute to health problems. The study, published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, mapped out pollution hotspots in London and modeled the efficacy of planting a variety of trees in these locations. By concentrating trees that have leaves year-round in areas with high pollution rates, the researchers’ model showed that rates of fine particulate matter in the air dropped significantly.

Full Story: How Many Trees is Enough?
Source: The Atlantic Cities, October 24, 2011

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