Turning Parking Lots and Urban Highways into Parks

In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where a Freeway Once Blighted (Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, Dec. 26, 2011) Also discussed here : Parks in, Cars not out? Is that going to be our future? (World Streets, Dec. 27, 2011) And here: Madrid Rio (8 slides) Today,  the focus is on an article which reviews the [...]

Scrubbing the Air with Trees- London’s BRIDGE Program

Estimating the removal of atmospheric particulate pollution by the urban tree canopy of London, under current and future environments (Abstract, Matthew Tallis,  Gail Taylor, Danielle Sinnett, Peter Freer-Smith, Landscape and Urban Planning, Sep. 1, 2011) From London comes research on the capability of trees in an urban setting to remove PM10 from the air through [...]

Wood-Burning Health Impacts

Image via Wikipedia Critical Review of the Health Effects of Woodsmoke (75 page pdf, University of California at Berkeley, 2005) Also discussed here:  Wood-burning blamed for poor air in Fairbanks (USA Today, Jan. 14, 2010) And here: Health Impacts from Particle Pollution (Clean Air Fairbanks, Sept. 21, 2010) As today’s article under review reports, wood [...]

Health Risks from Burning Wood and Coal

Image by BarelyFitz via Flickr In-home Coal and Wood Use and Lung Cancer Risk: A Pooled-Analysis of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (20 page pdf, Environ Health Perspect, 15 September 2010) Also discussed here: Mapping Particulate Matter in African City (Pollution Free Cities, Jan. 20, 2010) Also here: Where there’s fire, there’s smoke (Pollution Free [...]

Polluting Plants and Trees

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) invasion doubles emissions of nitric oxide and increases ozone pollution (5 page pdf, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, May 18, 2010) Also discussed here: Invasive Kudzu Is Major Factor in Surface Ozone Pollution, Study Shows (Science Daily, May 18, 2010) The part that vegetation [...]

Too Many Trees In Central Strip Of Roads Worse Than None

Too Many Trees Planted In Central Strip Of Roads Can Be Worse Than None; Can Trap Vehicle Exhaust Fumes (Science Daily) Download full paper (4 pages pdf) at TREES IN URBAN STREET CANYONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE DISPERSION OF AUTOMOBILE EXHAUSTS Key Quotes: “investigated the effects of trees on ventilation and pollution levels along [...]