Urban Air Pollution and Avenue Trees: Benefits, Interactions and Future Prospects

$230.00

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Series: Air, Water and Soil Pollution Science and Technology
BISAC: TEC010010
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.52305/QOGJ6487

Around the world, cities provide plenty of opportunities such as better education, advanced health treatment facilities, better employment, commerce and trade as compared to rural areas. Therefore, more than half the world’s people live and work together in urban communities and it is projected that by the year 2030, three out of five people will stay in cities. The unrestrained and rapid growth of cities has also brought environmental degradation and causes many serious problems such as worsening of air quality, loss of natural habitat and species diversity, and increased human health risks associated with heat waves, noise and crowding. In most urban areas of developing countries, a variety of harmful air pollutants such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are emitted from a variety of sources, mainly the burning of wood, fossil fuels and vehicular emissions, which adversely affects the health of human beings, animals and other living creatures. In the urban environment, trees provide many economic, social and environmental benefits to people, such as aesthetic beauty, improvement of property values, erosion prevention, storm water management, noise reduction, mental health development and crime reduction. In addition, trees help cool the air by shading surfaces that otherwise would absorb the sun’s energy and then reradiate it out as heat. Trees also cool the ambient air. Urban trees on average reduce air temperatures on summer days by 2-4˚F, although in some circumstances the cooling effect can be even larger. Trees also sequester carbon, helping to mitigate climate change.

The efficiency of atmospheric cleansing by trees in congested cities could be improved by planting more trees other than shrubs or herbs. Generally, avenue trees act as living filters to decrease pollution through absorption, accumulation and detoxification. Trees remove gaseous air pollutants such as ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide mainly by uptake via leaf stomata, although some gases are removed by the plant surface. Once inside the leaf, gaseous air pollutants diffuse into intercellular spaces and may be absorbed by water films to form acids or react with inner leaf surfaces. Though some particles can be absorbed into the tree, most particles settle on the branches, leaves and twigs of plants and are washed out by the rain. Throughout the world, different advanced technologies such as smog-free towers in the Netherlands and adhesive roads for particulate matter in London have been applied. However, these technologies are extremely costly and unaffordable for countries like India and therefore the most eco-friendly and cost-effective way is plantation of tolerant tree species alongside highways, city streets, in parks, and in residential yards.

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. Global Population Trend

Chapter 2. The Conflict between Urban and Rural Population Dynamics

Chapter 3. Urban Populations and Pollution: Current Trends, Issues and Progress

Chapter 4. Air Pollution and Urban Life: How Long Can We Really Breathe

Chapter 5. Air Pollutants and Air Quality: Sources, Types and Future Projections

Chapter 6. Green Plants and Urban Environment: The Only Eco-Friendly Source of Fresh and Breathable Air

Chapter 7. Avenue Trees: An Asset or Liability in Urban Architecture

Chapter 8. Gaseous Pollutants and Their Impact on Urban Trees

Chapter 9. Particulate Air Pollutants and Avenue Trees

Chapter 10. Biomonitoring of Urban Air Pollution: A Special Note on Eurobionet Programme

Chapter 11. Smart City Concept and Avenue Tree as Pollution Abatement Strategy

About the Authors

References

Index


Book Review

“The book Urban Air Pollution and Avenue Trees: Benefits, Interactions and Future Prospects”  has 11 chapters to cover the rationale of the concept and various domains to document how Avenue trees regulate urban air quality as well as how urban air quality affects urban avenue trees. In the current scenario where the rate of expansion of Urbanization is very high and its inevitable disadvantages is environmental pollution. The biggest problem in urban areas is air pollution. Air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and various oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are now entering the human body with each breath.  The human lungs are now a storehouse of harmful airborne particles such as PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.  Different age groups of the urban population from children to the elderly are now suffering from related health issues like asthma, shortness of breath, pneumonia, bronchitis, and even cancer. Good air quality is very much needed to achieve sustainable development goals or achieve the conversion of urban areas into smart cities. It is one of the key areas of  the  research for the current scientific community as well as for the policymakers. The contribution of both the authors in the book is very important and will be useful for various stakeholders.  The book content highlighted the importance of plants (avenue plants) on both sides of the city’s main thoroughfares to prevent deterioration as well as improvement of air quality.  The book discusses in detail the plan of a smart city and documented that how development, quality of life, and urban civilization can be integrated through the application of IoT technology. This book will pave the way for a significant future in implementing the concept of air pollution prevention and sustainable development in highly polluted metropolitan areas worldwide.” – Dr. Usha Mina, Associate Professor, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

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