Trees are Good for Your Health

I wanted to share with you the findings of a new study by a research forester from the U.S. Forest Service.  Geoffrey Donovan and his colleagues at the Pacific Northwest Research Station found increasing evidence that exposue to the natural environment can improve human health.  Researchers studied the relationship between emerald ash borer (EAB) presence (loss of more than 100 million trees) and county-level mortality from 1990 - 2007 in 15 states.

The results were convincing, scientists found a direct relationship to increased mortality related to cardiovascular and lower-respiratory-tract illnesses in counties infested with EAB.  They even found the magnitude of this effect was greater as the EAB infestation progressed.  This fınding adds to the growing evidence that the natural environment provides major public health benefıts.

Portland, Ore. January 16, 2013. Evidence is increasing from multiple scientific fields that exposure to the natural environment can improve human health. In a new study by the U.S. Forest Service, the presence of trees was associated with human health.

For Geoffrey Donovan, a research forester at the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, and his colleagues, the loss of 100 million trees in the eastern and midwestern United States was an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of a major change in the natural environment on human health.

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