By Deacon Tom Cervone, Ph.D., Sister Maureen Houlihan, D.C., and Nicole Cervone-Gish, Ed. M.S.
Our Mother Earth
Editor’s note: This series takes a deeper look at Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical ― On Care for Our Common Home, Laudato Si’
Have you heard about the Louisville, Kentucky, “Green Heart” project －“Do trees make you healthier?” This 6-year study (the first of its kind) will transform four neighborhoods in South Louisville with 8,000 trees. Trees, shrubs and other plants will be placed where they can best soak up lung-damaging pollution (James Bruggers, 10/26/17, Courier Journal). Trees give us oxygen to breathe; shade; sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; and filter pollutants.
Louisville lost some 54,000 trees annually between 2004 and 2012 to development, storms, pests and old age; and the tree canopy has dropped to 37 percent, well below other cities in the region. Since 1996, The American Lung Association has given Louisville a failing grade (Judy Woodruff, 12/12/19, PBS News Hour). The city is also one of the nation’s fastest-warming urban heat islands, with parts of the city 10º F hotter than surrounding areas. For a variety of reasons, there’s also a dramatic longevity difference with trees between east Louisville (13 years higher) and the west side, with fewer trees. “These conditions were before the emerald ash borer began wiping out tens of thousands of trees locally and 100 million trees in the Midwest” (James Bruggers, 10/26/17, Courier Journal).
Aruni Bhatnagar, Ph.D., a medical professor at the University of Louisville, said, “This work will tell us exactly how to design a neighborhood that supports human health, one that might provide protection from everything from asthma to heart disease to dementia.” In this study, his team will compare health for 700 participants from four neighborhoods with and without tree plantings. One earlier project included trees and shrubbery planted in the front lawn of St. Margaret Mary Catholic School to act as filters for air pollution from Shelbyville Road. “Levels of the smallest particulates dropped 60 percent, and there were indications that some students’ immune systems improved,” said, Bhatnagar.
The Nature Conservancy (Green Heart Louisville Project, 8/21/18) gives benefits of urban trees as:
- filtering up to a third of fine particle pollutants within 300 yards of a tree
- cooling city streets by 2-4⁰ F, and reducing deaths from heat and cutting energy use
- reducing rates of cardiac disease, strokes, and asthma due to improved air quality
- protecting biodiversity, including habitat for migrating birds and pollinators
- reducing obesity levels by increasing physical activity like walking and cycling
- managing stormwater, keeping pollutants out of waterways, and reducing urban flooding
- increasing neighborhood property values
- reducing stress by helping interrupt thought patterns that lead to anxiety and depression
In an independent study, Linda George, Ph.D., found a relationship between the reduction of nitrogen dioxide and where there was vegetation. “So wherever there seemed to be trees, there seemed to be less NO2 (Elizabeth Hendrickson, 10/6/14, Vanguard, “Study looks at relationship between trees and NO2”).
Even though trees are important, some people are allergic to tree pollen. “Thankfully, only about 100 of more than 50,000 tree species cause allergies” (Pollen Library: Plants that cause allergies - Healthline, Michael Kerr, 11/13/18). Therefore, care should be taken in the types of trees we plant and their locations.
What can we do?
Attend the Diocese of Evansville’s first Season of Creation Green Mass at 11 a.m. CDT Oct. 1 at Sts. Mary and John Church in Evansville. Diocesan Vicar General Very Rev. Alex Zenthoefer will preside.
Visit:
https://archive.psuvanguard.com/study-looks-at-relationship-between-trees-and-nitrogen-dioxide/
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." – Warren Buffett
Dr. Tom Cervone is a deacon at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Evansville, Indiana with 50 years of experience in ecology. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University, a Franciscan University. Sister Maureen Houlihan, D.C. is a support sister on the Seton Harvest Farm started by the Daughters of Charity in response to the Communities - Care of Mother Earth. This CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm grows all natural produce for shareholders and the poor. Nicole Cervone-Gish, Ed. MS. is an award winning ELL (English Language Learner) teacher, who lives in Evansville, Indiana with her family.