I wrote this summary for English 100 on Amy Flemming’s article “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees”.

In the 2016 Guardian article “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees”, Amy Flemming observes the multiple positive attributes trees have on our communities and physical and mental health. Flemming reviews a point Jones’s stated about “the ecological services that trees provide” including “[cutting] down air conditioning use [and] heating energy” significantly, leaving communities an invisible, cheaper alternative. (Flemming, 2) Public health expert William Bird elaborates the positive effects trees have on our brains and how “the parts of our brain we use change when we connect with nature”. (Flemming, 4) Studies produced with an MRI found that natural outdoor settings “light up” the parts of the brain “where empathy and altruism happen” creating a positive experience and sense of peace. (Flemming, 4) Research forester, Geoffrey Donovan discusses the fact that whether trees are in your general vicinity could be “a matter of life and death”. (Flemming, 5) Donovan looks deeper into areas that have lost a magnitude of trees and detected “a corresponding increase in human mortality” (Flemming, 5) Amy Flemmings article provides insight discussing the multiple positive attributes trees have on our communities and physical and mental health.

Heading image cite: https://capitalscoalition.org/the-importance-of-urban-forests-why-money-really-does-grow-on-trees/