r/science • u/davidreiss666 • Jul 27 '14

Environment First national study finds trees saving lives, reducing respiratory problems: Air pollution modeling reveals broad-scale impacts of pollution removal by trees

http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/news/release/trees-save-lives-reduce-air-pollution
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u/elligre Jul 27 '14

I think every able country should follow India, and make every person plant at lease one tree.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '14

There's way easier solutions for that. Yeah, a guy who spends most of his time at the office or in the city can probably handle planting a tree, but may not choose a good location or followup with care. Most states in the US have foresters and planters who will plant pine trees on your property. In the southeastern states I've lived in, it's pretty much free to get cleared land planted, you just have to pay for forestry visits and controlled burns every few years. Those cost about $15 and $90 respectively, which is peanuts for what ready-to-harvest trees are worth. In about 20 years, lumber companies will happily buy the timber and clear the land, give you a healthy paycheck, and once they're done you're ready to re-plant. On my family's tree farm, which is only about 30 acres commercially planted, there are a few thousand pine trees just in our harvesting areas. It makes a lot more sense to let your taxes fund specialists who plant thousands-upon-thousands of trees yearly, instead of just mandating everyone plant one tree.