America's urban trees are disappearing

[n2doc]

Urban and community areas in the United States are losing their trees, according to a new study conducted by the U.S. Forest Service. And this loss is happening at a fast clip—the study finds that, overall, these areas lost around 175,000 acres of tree cover annually between 2009 and 2014.

This loss, Forest Service researchers say, equates to the disappearance of some 36 million trees every year.

Urban forests aren't just aesthetically pleasing; they provide a variety of benefits to cities from shielding buildings from the sun and reducing cooling costs and energy consumption, filtering pollutants from water and air, mitigating flooding and erosion, and helping in the fight against global warming by storing carbon. In total, analysts estimate urban trees save the U.S. around $18.3 billion every year.

But new research published recently in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening finds urban tree cover—and the myriad benefits it provides—appears to be declining in the U.S. When USDA Forest Service researchers David Nowak and Eric Greenfield analyzed tree cover extent in urban areas between 2009 and 2014, they found significant drop-offs in many areas.

more

https://psmag.com/environment/america-is-losing-its-urban-trees

[CrispyQ]

1. They paved paradise & put up a parking lot.

That's what we're doing to Earth.

"The pattern of decreasing tree cover and increasing impervious surfaces indicate a synergistic pattern of loss of environmental benefits (e.g., air temperature cooling by trees) and increased environmental issues (e.g., air temperature increases associated with impervious surfaces)," the authors write in their study.

The researchers caution that this trend is likely to continue unless management policy is changed to prioritize tree cover and create more programs focused on protecting urban forests.

Well we all know the likelihood of that happening with president puppet.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I think this is the first time I have really "gotten" that patriarchy is suicidal. n/t

[kimbutgar]

2. Here in San Francisco we are planting tress

San Francisco officials are beginning to chart an ambitious course to sharply curtail the city’s carbon emissions over the next three decades. The first step: planting more trees — a lot of them.


On Thursday, Mayor Mark Farrell will announce that the city is taking steps to become carbon-neutral — with no net release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — by 2050

As the Department of the Environment works out a long-term plan for shrinking the city’s carbon footprint, Farrell is jump-starting the process by commissioning a project to plant 2,000 trees, which absorb carbon dioxide, across San Francisco over the next two years. The $4 million cost will be built into the 2018 budget.


https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2018/04/19/San-Francisco-to-plant-2000-trees-in-carbon-neutral-effort/9681524157835/

[nikki haley]

4. we should be plainting more trees

Last edited Tue May 1, 2018, 05:00 AM - Edit history (1)

we should be plainting more trees

[FSogol]

5. What color should we paint them? I suggest forrest green.

[radical noodle]

6. Good color choice