When pollutant chemicals are superheated by high air temperatures, they become more volatile and interact with each other to create ground level ozone which would not happen at lower temperatures. That is why Atlanta's most dangerous levels of air pollution occur in the summer. Planting 30 trees each year offsets greenhouse gases from your car and home. Three trees located strategically around your house can cut air conditioning bills in half. On a larger scale, the cooling effects of trees can save millions of energy dollars.
Trees create a sense of privacy in urban environments.
Trees create buffers to reduce noise. The presence of trees in urban neighborhoods has been linked to less crime. Almost all woodpeckers can dig out holes for nests only in standing dead trees or the dead stubs on live trees and many other wildlife species depend on dead wood for nesting. Dead and decaying trees on the ground replenish soils by returning important nutrients, and provide food resources for many types of wildlife. Trees provide substances with medicinal values such as the active ingredients used in asthma medications and cough remedies.