Green in More Ways than One: Campus Trees Pay Big Eco-Dividends
Monday, April 20, 2009 - 16:42
in Earth & Climate
Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, providing cooling shade for people and buildings in addition to serving as habitat for birds and other wildlife. But exactly how much can trees reduce an institution's carbon footprint and save in cooling and other costs? The University of California San Diego, one of the nation's greenest universities, discovered that the total effect of its 200,000 trees was a reduction of nearly 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, or 5 percent of its annual emissions.