Fast Fact Library

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.

According to a study of 17 sites in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States, asphalt intersections or crosswalks with improvements such as crosswalk art, intersection murals, painted plazas, or sidewalk...

Schwartz, Sam. (April 2022). “Asphalt Art Safety Study: Historical Crash Analysis and Observational Behavior Assessment at Asphalt Art Sites.” Bloomberg Philanthropies. https://assets.bbhub.io/dotorg/sites/43/2022/04/Asphalt-Art-Safety-Study.pdf

A cost-benefit analysis based on existing green schoolyards in California compared a green schoolyard prototype with a gray schoolyard prototype. Over a 20-year period, the green schoolyard's cumulative net cost was...

Trust for Public Land and MKThink. (2022). “California Green Schoolyards: A Cost-Benefit Study.” https://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/220511_TPL_GSY_Report_Final.pdf.

Quality pollinator habitat can be created beneath solar arrays. In an Oregon experiment, researchers found that pollinator abundance, diversity, and richness as well as pollinator-flower visitation rates were...

Graham, Maggie, Serkan Ates, Andony P. Melathopoulos, Andrew R. Molkdenke, Sandra J. DeBano, Lincoln R. Best, and Chad W. Higgins. ”Partial shading by solar panels delays bloom, increases floral abundance during the late-season for pollinators in a dryland, agrivoltaic ecosystem”. Scientific Reports 11, 7452 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86756-4.