Explore the health benefits of urban trees. This includes how trees protect people’s health from the impacts of extreme heat, which is becoming more frequent, intense, and severe due to human-caused climate change.
Health Benefits of Urban Trees:
An Overview
Urban trees are good for our health and well-being. From looking at trees through a window to wandering through a forest, trees can benefit our physical, mental, and social health. Some of these health benefits begin even before birth!
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Infographic developed by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) with financial contributions from Health Canada
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How Trees Protect People’s Health
from Extreme Heat
Climate change is already making extreme heat events hotter, longer, and more frequent, putting everyone’s health at risk.
Trees offer natural cooling benefits that can help protect people from heat-related illnesses and deaths. This is especially helpful in urban areas, which tend to have less vegetation and more built-up surfaces that trap and release greater heat than surrounding rural areas.
Select the image below to view and download a PDF copy.
Infographic developed by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) with financial contributions from Health Canada
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Go Deeper
The following presentation slides can be freely used to help communicate the health benefits of urban trees and can be tailored to different audiences.
A full list of references is included at the end of the presentation for those who wish to explore the scientific evidence further. The presentation builds on the findings of:
- Urban Trees and Human Health: A Scoping Review (2020)
- Human Health Benefits of City Trees & Forests: Rapid Review of Research Publications with Practical Application (2024)
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Questions?
Please contact TRCA’s Watershed Planning and Ecosystem Science team: wpes@trca.ca.
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