Inside InterCommunity: April 2024

By Dyana Hagen

Many researchers agree that exploring natural environments can reduce stress and promote mindfulness. Fresh air filled with the scent of chlorophyll can be a natural sedative for anyone who takes a stroll in the woods. Yet this experience is not readily available if you live in an urban area. Unless you belong to a social club like InterCommunity's Common Ground that can take you 30 miles out of your way to a state park,

reaping the benefits of nature can be beyond your reach. So it’s important to look at the urban areas in which many people live.

Ample tree canopy cover in a city provides a wide range of ecosystem benefits including: 1) the significant reduction of 18-38 degrees F of land surface temperatures that radiate additional heat during a heat wave, 2) shade from heat stress and ultraviolet radiation that causes cancers, 3) reducing air pollutants and temperatures by 10 degrees, 4) mitigating storm run-off to prevent flooding, 5) maintaining water quality, 6) lowering energy use, 7)increasing immunity, 8) fewer respiratory illnesses, 9) reduction in heat stress, 10) mood elevation, and 11) better physical and mental well-being overall.

After researchers performed a meta-analysis of 5,723 cities in urban areas, they found that there was a disparity of trees in lower income areas of the city when compared to the higher income areas after using heat sensing Landsat imagery. It showed that in 92% of these surveyed cities, lower income blocks have 15.2% less tree canopy coverage than higher income blocks of those same cities. In the Northeast, some low-income urban areas had 30% less tree cover and were 4 degrees hotter than high-income areas.