14 DAY TRIAL // A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine explains that there is a link between forest coverage and human death rates.
More precisely, the study details how, as more trees are lost, death rates tend to go up. Tree Hugger reports that the researchers reached this startling conclusion after looking into how the loss of 100 million trees in the eastern and midwestern United States impacted on public health.
There trees were all victims of the emerald ash borer invasion, and it appears that their falling off the map translated into an increase in respiratory- and cardiovascular disease-related deaths.
“There was an increase in mortality related to cardiovascular and lower-respiratory-tract illness in counties infested with the emerald ash borer.”
“Across the 15 states in the study area, the borer was associated with an additional 6113 deaths related to illness of the lower respiratory system, and 15,080 cardiovascular-related deaths,” the researchers reportedly write in their paper.
Specialists say that, given the findings of this investigation, it wouldn't be such a bad idea for people to start taking better care of whatever forests still cover the face of our planet.