Interesting facts about trees from the Arbor Day Foundation:
*A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lbs./year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings.”
http://chemistry.about.com/od/environmentalchemistry/f/oxygen-produced-by-trees.htm
With the world population now at a staggering 7 billion, the importance of preserving our existing trees and planting new ones in over crowded cities has never been more important.
London has a population of about 9 million with around 1.75 million people living in areas that are further than 1km from an open space containing nature or wildlife.
To make their environment more green, Londoners can now log onto http://www.london.gov.uk/streettrees and request a tree be planted outside their homes using a brilliant scheme that Mayor Boris has created.
This programme has already planted 9,500 of the 10,000 trees it wants to have in place across the capital by 2012 in 40 areas chosen by a panel of experts including Trees for Cities, the London Tree Officers Association and the Forestry Commission. http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/environment/urban-space/releaf-london
There are manyother projects in various UK locations that are run by Trees for Cities – check out your local tree planting project at: http://www.treesforcities.org/how-we-help/our-projects/
Tree-lined streets only have 10-15% of the dust of a street without trees and are on average 6-10C cooler. They also absorb traffic noise, provide habitats for wildlife and, most importantly, mitigate the effects of global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide.
They look beautiful as well – especially when the blossom is out !
Wed, Jun 20, 2012
Climate Change, Trees, UK Climate Change