
More trees reduce premature deaths in cities - eplanit
http://news.trust.org/item/20191120230050-tz45e
======
xphilter
I'll be honest, I don't have time to go dig into this study. Nevertheless, I'm
skeptical because I'd be willing to bet cities don't plant trees in the hood.
There's probably a strong correlation between wealth and living near trees
(and of course there's a correlation between wealth and health). I'd be happy
to be wrong.

~~~
grawprog
>There's probably a strong correlation between wealth and living near trees

Could also have to do with the city's wealth itself. A city that has money to
spend on trees, probably has better infrastructure, more jobs available and
and just more ways for lower income people to live and thrive than a city that
can't afford to plant and maintain trees. Trees are expensive. It means they
probably invest more in stuff like accessible transit, maintaining roads and
just other general quality of life improvements in the city.

I figure trees are probably lower down on the list of things to spend money
on, so if they've got the money for that, the city itself is like just a
better place to live for a ton of other reasons.

------
brookhaven_dude
Come to Atlanta. Highest tree density among any major metropolis. Nicknamed
"City in a Forest".

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_tree_canopy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_tree_canopy)

PS - Spring season is hell.

~~~
astrodust
Toronto is similar (~52% tree coverage) and pollen can go off the charts.

[https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pe/bgrd/backgroundf...](https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pe/bgrd/backgroundfile-97020.pdf)

------
mlinksva
Here's the study which the article criminally does not link to:
[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5...](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196\(19\)30215-3/fulltext)

It's a meta analysis of 9 longitudinal studies of green space and mortality,
all of which consider socio-economic status as a co-variate.

------
noname120
Correlation ⇏ causation.

Possible confounding factor: green cities are the result of environmentally-
friendly policies which also happen to reduce city pollution.

~~~
carapace
Yeah, I'm an eco-nut but my first (well, second) reaction was, "Is it that
proximity to trees is roughly inverse to proximity to cars and other pollution
sources?"

I was just reading about nanoparticle pollution:
[https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191113-the-toxic-
killer...](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191113-the-toxic-killers-in-
our-air-too-small-to-see)

Evidently it's both really bad and pretty localized (exposure levels seem to
drop rapidly with distance from car traffic, for example.)

------
coldtea
Let's all go for a round of "correlation!= causation" as nobody has ever
mentioned it before in a post about a study...

~~~
benchaney
It’s both true and relevant no matter how many times it has been mentioned
before

~~~
dang
HN is for curiosity, and curiosity withers under repetition.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
benchaney
I’m sorry, I’m not sure I understand what this means.

------
rajekas
Others have pointed out in this thread that greenery may be a reflection of
wealth which strikes me as true. I wouldn't discount state power either - in
many cities the greenest areas are the ones inhabited by bureaucrats and
soldiers.

I also think we should be looking at d/dx(green) rather than |green| to detect
the influence of wealth and power, especially in parts of the world where
unchecked growth has decimated green space. Which is to say, don't perform
your comparisons based on tree cover _now_ but the change in tree cover over
time, say, using satellite data over the years.

Common sense suggests that by looking at the ebb and flow of greenery, we will
find that the spots where the wealthy and the powerful live are less likely to
see trees cut down and more likely to see new trees planted.

------
klyrs
OTOH, the wrong trees may be responsible for your allergies...

[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seasonal-allergies-
bla...](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seasonal-allergies-blame-male-
trees)

------
aaron695
FFS ever consider why rich people want more trees?

We need to work towards trees in cities. Although the death rate because of
pollen isn't great. But we need air filtered homes anyway. Not sure on these
stats.....

This is a pulp story, but not to be thrown out -

Tree cover on the streets of Parramatta can mean a difference of 10C on a hot
day

[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-21/western-sydney-
heatwa...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-21/western-sydney-heatwave-
alleviated-by-tree-cover/11721698)

------
RmDen
Wondering if teamtrees will plant in cities?
[https://teamtrees.org/](https://teamtrees.org/)

~~~
ShteiLoups
The trees will be planted by the Arbor day foundation, and "in a variety of
forests on public and private lands in areas of great need"[1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Trees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Trees)

------
Tempest1981
I was optimistic when I saw this city-design concept... but is it realistic?
Seems like we're nowhere close right now.

[https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/04/see-
sust...](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/04/see-sustainable-
future-city-designed-for-people-and-nature/)

------
spodek
Logically equivalent: fewer trees increase premature deaths in cities.

I prefer this way. It treats having trees as normal instead of something
extra.

------
acd
Trees brings psychological calmness to those around them. Trees also cleans
the local air from pollution. Trees also by means of evaporative cooling cool
local hot spots in cities.

Take Central Park in New York living close to a green area means flats there
have some of the highest prices in NY.

~~~
ChuckNorris89
It's the same in Europe. Flats in the city closest to greenest areas are
occupied by the upper class because it's quiet and the air is clean while the
lower income people live by the train station or main road where trucks pass
that's the noisiest and most poluted area of the city and naturally, one of
the cheapest to live in.

------
akeck
Alternatively, green spaces attract healthy people?

------
_sbrk
More trees, fewer people per unit area -> ideal.

~~~
astrodust
The suburbs have fewer people per unit area, but very few trees.

Meanwhile some areas have high-density townhomes and tons of trees. See:
Montreal.

------
GnarfGnarf
Does that also work if I live in the woods?

------
Ruth_K
It`s not a new fact for everyone :)

