Whether in the form of small forests, parks, gardens or along the streets, Trees help purify the air, reduce noise, energy consumption, improve the urban landscape and the quality of life of its inhabitants.
As key elements of green spaces and streets in the cities, they are living urban elements that we must preserve and claim. However much they beautify the environment, they are much more than a simple decorative element, because, in them, we find an irreplaceable element to be able to survive day by day in our industrialised cities.
Trees fight climate change
The excess of carbon dioxide (CO2) caused by many factors accumulates in our atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Trees absorb CO2, removing and storing carbon while releasing oxygen into the air, they are very valuable, natural carbon sinks.
Through the photosynthesis processed by the leaves, the tree traps CO2 from the atmosphere and turns it into pure oxygen, enriching and cleaning the air we breathe.
It is estimated that one hectare with healthy and vigorous trees produces enough oxygen for 40 inhabitants of the city.
A forest of one hectare consumes in one year all the CO2 generated by the carburisation of a car in that same period. At a global level, forests reduce the warming of the atmosphere and regulate the earth's climate.
In cities, the loss of trees raises temperatures and causes soil evaporation. The lack of sufficient trees in the city allows heat masses to be more severe.
The temperature in the streets of the city centre in spring and summer can be up to 5 ºC more on average than in the areas of the gardens and parks of the city where there are trees growing.
Trees clean the air
The trees absorb odours and polluting gases (nitrogen oxides, ammonia, sulfur and ozone dioxide) and filter the air pollutants, trapping in their leaves and crusts. It's designed so that the air passes through the leaves, filtering the dust, ashes, fumes, spores, pollen and other impurities that the wind drags.
In addition to their psychological characteristics, trees can improve the quality of the air we breathe and are like a shield against heat. In one year, 4046 m2 of trees can provide oxygen for 18 people.
Trees preserve energy
Three trees strategically placed around a family's home can recover up to 50 percent the need to use the air conditioning in the summer. By reducing the demand for energy to cool our homes, we reduce carbon dioxide and other polluting gases generated by power plants.
Improve our quality of life
People want to have trees around them because they make life more pleasant. However, most people respond to the presence of trees by not admiring their beauty, but ironically in a grove of trees people feel serene, rested and calm; they feel at home.
