Fast Fact Library

Living in urban areas with a higher percentage of visible trees is associated with a 4% decrease in cardiovascular disease, according to a United States-based study using machine learning and street-level images.

James, Peter, Esra Suel, Pi-I Debby Lin, Jaime E. Hart, Eric B. Rimm, Francine Laden, Perry Hystad, Steve Hankey, Andrew Larkin, Wenwen Zhang, Jochem Klompmaker, Brent Coull, Li Yi, and Marcia Pescador Jimenez. “Assessing Greenspace and Cardiovascular Disease Risk through Deep Learning Analysis of Street-View Imagery in the US-Based Nationwide Nurses’ Health Study.” Environmental Epidemiology 10, no. 1 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000442

All types of urban nature were found to provide mental health benefits according to a systematic review of 449 studies and meta-analysis of 78 field-based experiments, with urban forests and parks emerging as key...

Li, Yingjie, Yuanyuan Mao, Lisa Mandle, Anders Rydström, Roy P. Remme, Xin Lan, Tong Wu, Chao Song, Yougeng Lu, Kari C. Nadeau, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Gretchen C. Daily, and Anne D. Guerry. “Acute mental health benefits of urban nature.” Nature Cities 2 (2025): 720–731. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00286-y

An analysis of 83 nature-based solutions in the Alps region estimated a return on investment of 2.8 euro per 1 euro spent based on co-benefits and the monetary value of ecosystem services like heatwave mitigation...

González-García, Alberto, Ignacio Palomo, Anna Codemo, Mirco Rodeghiero, Titouan Dubo, Améline Vallet, and Sandra Lavorel. “Co-benefits of nature-based solutions exceed the costs of implementation.” Cell Reports Sustainability 2, no.3 (2025): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2025.100336

Forests with five different species of tropical trees can store 36% more carbon in trunks and branches than forests with just one species, as measured by a 16-year study of an experimental forest in Panama.

Schnabel, Florian,  Joannès Guillemot,  Kathryn E. Barry,  Melanie Brunn,  Simone Cesarz,  Nico Eisenhauer,  Tobias Gebauer,  Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramirez,  I. Tanya Handa,  Chris Madsen,  Lady Mancilla,  Jose Monteza,  Tim Moore,  Yvonne Oelmann,  Michael Scherer-Lorenzen,  Luitgard Schwendenmann,  Audrey Wagner,  Christian Wirth,  and Catherine Potvin. “Tree Diversity Increases Carbon Stocks and Fluxes Above—But Not Belowground in a Tropical Forest Experiment.” Global Change Biology 31 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70089.

A modelling study of 15,917 global urban areas predicted that greening urban areas could prevent an estimated 700,000 premature deaths annually, with the most impact (54 deaths prevented per 100,000 people)...

Garber, Michael D., Tarik Benmarhnia, Weiqi Zhou, Pierpaolo Mudu, and David Rojas-Rueda. “Greening urban areas in line with population density and ecological zone can reduce premature mortality.” Communications Earth & Environment 5 (2024): 650. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01803-y

A systematic literature review found that the most efficient landscape typologies in cooling urban air temperatures are botanic gardens (6.3 to 9°F of cooling on average), wetlands (5.8 to 8.8°F), green walls (7.4...

Kumar, Prashant, Sisay E. Debele, Soheila Khalili, Christos H. Halios, Jeetendra Sahani, Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Maria de Fatima Andrade, Maria Athanassiadou, Kamaldeep Bhui, Nerea Calvillo, Shi-Jie Cao, Frederic Coulon, Jill L. Edmondson, David Fletcher, Edmilson Dias de Freitas, Hai Guo, Matthew C. Hort, Madhusudan Katti, Thomas Rodding Kjeldsen, Steffen Lehmann, Giuliano Maselli Locosselli, Shelagh K. Malham, Lidia Morawska, Rajan Parajuli, Christopher D.F. Rogers, Runming Yao, Fang Wang, Jannis Wenk, and Laurence Jones. “Urban Heat Mitigation by Green and Blue Infrastructure: Drivers, Effectiveness, and Future Needs.” The Innovation 5, No. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588

Urban greenery can play a significant role in absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide. According to a Columbia University study, trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, and grasses in the five boroughs of New York City...

Wei, Dandan, Andrew Reinmann, Luke D. Schifer, and Roisin Commane. High resolution modeling of vegetation reveals large summertime biogenic CO₂ fluxes in New York City. Environmental Research Letters 17, 12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca68f.

Street trees can reduce non-accidental and cardiovascular mortality. In a study of street trees planted in Portland over 30 years, planting 11.7 trees annually in each census tract was associated with 15.6 fewer non...

Donovan, Geoffrey H., Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Demetrios Gatziolis, Yvonne L. Michael, Abigail R. Kaminski, and Payam Dadvand. “The association between tree planting and mortality: A natural experiment and cost-benefit analysis.” Environment International 170 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107609.

Children growing up in environments with more vegetation, especially with more trees, achieved more positive early childhood development outcomes as compared to children growing in environments with more paved...

Jarvis, Ingrid, Hind Sbihi, Zoë Davis, Michael Brauer, Agatha Czekajlo, Hugh W. Davies, Sarah E. Gergel, Martin Guhn, Michael Jerrett, Mieke Koehoorn, Lorien Nesbitt, Tim F. Oberlander, Jason Su, and Matilda van den Bosch. “The influence of early-life residential exposure to different vegetation types and paved surfaces on early childhood development: A population-based birth cohort study.” Environment International 163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107196