DEVELOPING DENVER NEEDS TREES.Ever wonder what a bunch of trees in a city are worth? Consider this: Trees in Denver and in seven other Colorado cities are worth a total of $44 million in stormwater management--$3.2 million a year. Add another $5.3 million a year to factor in the removal of a couple million pounds of air pollution--stuff like sulfur dioxide sulfur dioxide, chemical compound, SO2, a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor. It is readily soluble in cold water, sparingly soluble in hot water, and soluble in alcohol, acetic acid, and sulfuric acid. , nitrogen dioxide nitrogen dioxide n. A poisonous brown gas, NO2, often found in smog and automobile exhaust fumes and synthesized for use as a nitrating agent, a catalyst, and an oxidizing agent. Noun 1. , and carbon monoxide carbon monoxide, chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; . Their value increases by another $4.5 million when you add the savings in air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. costs the trees provide through shade, a cooling system cooling system: see air conditioning; internal-combustion engine; refrigeration. cooling system Apparatus used to keep the temperature of a structure or device from exceeding limits imposed by needs of safety and efficiency. with an added benefit: no carbon emissions. Those are among the findings of a new study AMERICAN FORESTS American Forests is a nonprofit conservation organization that promotes healthy forests and urban tree planting. The organization was established in 1875 as the American Forestry Association, by physician/horticulturist John Aston Warder and a group of like-minded citizens presented this spring to Denver's mayor, Wellington Webb, and to a number of the cities' foresters. The study was supported by the U.S. and Colorado State Forest The Colorado State Forest is a 71,000 acres (0 km) forest located in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Colorado. Trees in the Colorado State Forest include Engelmann Spruce and Subalpine Fir in areas of higher elevation, and Services, along with the forestry departments of the cities of Aurora, Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Lakewood, Louisville, and Wheat Ridge. Using satellite images collected in 1986 and 1998, AMERICAN FORESTS analyzed 425,000 acres around Denver and another 2-plus million acres from Denver to Fort Collins. Then, 39 sites were analyzed indepth with CITYgreen software. The study found that over the 12-year period tree cover in the region increased just one percentage point (from 6 to 7 percent) while impervious surfaces increased three percentage points (from 9 to 12). In the Denver metropolitan area, tree cover increased from 4 to 6 percent, while hard-surface coverage increased from 30 to 39 percent. "Colorado is a dryland ecology," said Gary Moll, vice president of urban forestry at AMERICAN FORESTS. "And with the rapid growth of population and urban areas here, it's vitally important to recognize the full environmental and economic value of urban trees. When impervious surfaces expand, tree cover needs to expand to compensate." To take advantage of all the benefits trees provide communities, the study recommends cities along Colorado's Front Range plant trees at a rate that keeps pace with development. It also encourages city leaders, planners, engineers, and policy makers to take trees into consideration when making decisions about saving or developing land. See the full analysis at www.americanforests.org. |
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