More trees cut premature deaths

Wealth alone won’t save countries from warming

TBILISI, Nov 21, (Agencies): City dwellers tend to live longer if they are in leafy neighbourhoods, according to a study published on Wednesday that linked green areas to lower rates of premature death.

Trees in cities are already credited with cooling and cleaning the air and absorbing planet-warming gases, now researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health have found they also keep death at bay.

“More green space is better for health,” said Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, director of the institute’s urban planning, environment and health initiative. “People actually live longer if there is more green space around.”

The research, which pulled data from nine other studies involving more than eight million people in seven countries from China to Canada, was the largest ever conducted on the subject, the authors said.

Researchers used satellite images to quantify how much vegetation, including trees, grass and shrubs, was within 500 meters (550 yards) of people’s homes.

Levels of vegetation were ranked on a scale under a system known as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

Those involved in the study were followed for several years. Any premature deaths caused by health conditions such as heart or respiratory diseases were factored in.

The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, found that in cities from Barcelona to Perth, a 10% increase in greenery led to an average 4% reduction in premature mortality.

While researchers did not look into specific causes, Nieuwenhuijsen said access to vegetation was known to benefit mental health, reduce stress, cut pollution and encourage physical activity.

“What we need to do is increase green space in many cities ... so that people can actually live a healthy life,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation

west Sichuan province. Bei Bei will be quarantined for one month while he adjusts to the time difference, learns to eat local foods and picks up Sichuanese dialect, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Bei Bei was conceived through artificial

by phone.

A “nice green city” would have between 20% and 30% of every area covered in vegetation, he said.

With the United Nations estimating two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, many cities are already looking at ways to increase greenery, according to the C40 network of cities tackling climate change.

Planted

Medellin in Colombia has planted thousands of trees to form “green corridors” along main roads, while Australia’s Melbourne was looking to almost double its canopy cover to 40% by 2040.

“Green spaces are good for cities and good for citizens,” Regina Vetter, who manages C40’s “Cool Cities Network” said in a statement.

“Trees, meadows, wetlands and other green space are also vital to prepare our cities for the impacts of the changing global climate. They reduce the risks of flooding, lower temperatures and improve air quality.”

Wealth alone will not shield economies from the impact of climate change, researchers said on Wednesday, urging governments to build flood defences and early warning systems to stem financial losses.

Climate research has shown that poor people in tropical countries are most vulnerable to economic loss caused by global warming.

But countries that aggressively prepare for climate impacts like hurricanes and heatwaves will fare drastically better financially than others with similar economies, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

For example, by 2050, Russia’s economy will be 5% smaller than it would have been without the impact of climate change.

Argentina, which has done more to

insemination and born to the National Zoo’s Mei Xiang and Tian Tian in 2015. His name, which means “treasure” in Chinese, was jointly selected by then-first lady Michelle Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan. Bei Bei prepare, will only contract by 2% despite having similar levels of economic development, said the study.

“Argentinean leadership recognises that climate change represents a risk to Argentina’s long-term growth rate, most obviously through its impact on the important agriculture sector,” said the report.

It linked Russia’s estimated losses to “widespread climate change scepticism among much of the Russian business community and a lack of broader public engagement”.

Researchers looked at the willingness and financial ability to confront climate change of 82 countries with large economies.

The global economy will contract by 3% with countries in North America faring the best and countries in Africa the worst, it said. Despite recent wildfires and hurricanes that have raised concerns about a warming planet, the researchers said climate change would only cause the US economy to contract by 1% by 2050.

Since 1980, the United States has suffered 241 weather and climate disasters costing $1 billion or more, at a cumulative cost of $1.6 trillion, the United Nations has said.

Only seven countries including Germany, South Korea and Lithuania scored better.

“Despite the absence of leadership at the national level in the US, cities and certainly states are really moving ahead in combating climate change,” said David Miller, the North American director of the C40 network of cities tackling climate change.

“Within the US, once the federal government uses its authority, you’ll see even more progress building on what cities and states are doing today.”

Poorer nations – many in places where climate change effects are hitting the hardest – have long demanded more financial support so they can build stronger homes, plant hardier seeds, put in irrigation and warn citizens of dangerous weather.

quickly became a favorite on the zoo’s Panda Cam, and fans bid a bittersweet farewell to the cub online with the hashtag #byebyebeibei. (AP)

Attenborough gets award:

Queen Elizabeth presented broadcaster David Attenborough with an award on Wednesday for his hit television nature series Blue Planet II, which raised public awareness around the world of the danger of plastic pollution in oceans.

Attenborough, who like the monarch is 93 years old, was awarded the Chatham House prize along with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit for “the galvanising impact” of the series, the London-based international affairs think tank said.

The annual prize honours people or organisations deemed to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations.

“Your ability to communicate the beauty and vulnerability of our natural environment remains unequalled as you – and your team – have engaged and enthused many people, young and old, to appreciate and preserve our world’s oceans,” the Queen told Attenborough in a speech. “For that we should all be thankful.” The monarch has been steadily cutting down on the number of her public engagements and her appearance to present the prize is a mark of the high esteem in which Attenborough is held. (RTRS)