Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – Air pollution is a serious problem in Dallas. In fact, in 2015 the American Lung Association ranked Dallas as the 7th most polluted city in the nation when it comes to ozone. The Nature Conservancy issued a report this week that said more trees may help change that.
The Conservancy’s Dr. Robert McDonald said breathing in particulate matter and smog can lead to asthma, stroke and heart attacks. “For every person that dies from particular matter, there are hundreds of people that are hospitalized. They don’t go to work because their sick. Kids don’t go to school because they are sick,” he said.
McDonald said trees help remove particulate matter in the air from 7 to 24 percent. He believes it will take a team effort by various departments within a city to come up a plan to attack this growing issue.
“One of the things we’re trying to make a case for in this report is that the public health department in a city or state should interact with those doing urban forestry plans because their missions overlap,” said McDonald.
Trees are not simply a beautiful aesthetic, they also play a vital role in decreasing temperatures, which McDonald said are steadily rising.
“The expectations are that heat waves are going to become more frequent and more intense. There’s a World Health Organization study that showed that unless cities start to act, heatwaves are going to kill a million people every year by 2050,” he said.
The Nature Conservatory said if cities invested four dollars toward a tree for every resident, it could help save thousands of lives.
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