Today, the most important aspect of the urban forest is clearly energy conservation and carbon dioxide absorption. Studies show that hospital patients with window view of trees recovered significantly faster and with fewer complications than comparable patients without access to such views. Windbreak of trees has been found to reduce residential heating costs 10-15% Trees intercept rainfall and reduce run-off, thereby functioning like retention/detention basins.
The psychological impact of trees on people's moods, emotions and enjoyment of their surroundings may in fact be one of the greatest benefits urban forests provide. Properly located and managed, trees can reduce the demand for fossil energy through effects such as shading buildings to reduce air conditioning demand, breaking winter winds to lower space heating needs, preventing soil erosion to lower the amount of fertilizer needs and fossil fuel that would be needed to produce necessary foods and fibre from higher acreages of degraded soils, and sheltering wildlife in both winter and summer to reduce stress. Urban Trees Reduce CO2(carbon dioxide).
Each healthy tree can reduce air borne dust particles by as much as 7,000 particles per litre of air, thus a healthy tree is a free standing air conditioner and purifier. You need about 500 full-sized trees to absorb the carbon dioxide produced by a typical car driven 12,000 miles/year Consumption
CO2 production from heating an average home:
by oil - 11 tons/year;
by natural gas - 7 tons/year;
by hydroelectricity - zero;
by wood - 12 tons/year.
CO2 from running:
economy car - 12,000 miles (gas) = 6 tons
heavy truck - 15,000 miles (diesel) = 26 tons
Trees can help reduce the greenhouse effect in two ways: trees directly absorb CO2 - the primary greenhouse gas - from the atmosphere during photosynthesis; shade from trees can reduce air conditioning and energy use, which reduces the amount of CO2 emitted by power plants.
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