9 Ronald Reagan
In 1981, Ronald Reagan uttered a perplexing line:
“Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do.”
While such a statement seems obviously false, there’s actually a small bit of truth to it: Trees do emit pollutants. In fact, roughly 66 percent of the atmosphere’s volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted by trees.
Two types of VOCs, isoprenes and terpenes, are involved in the formation of smog. Isoprene also increases the rate at which sunlight transforms atmospheric gases into ozone. While ozone is good to have in the stratosphere, it’s less pleasant to have down here in the troposphere. It can irritate the eyes and nose and even exacerbate respiratory problems. It’s estimated that 500 British deaths during an August 2003 heat wave were attributable to ozone pollution.
However, it’s a little early to start chanting, “Saw, baby, saw!” Other factors are at work. It’s been found that when man-made pollutants, such as those from cars, are removed, pollutants from trees drop by 50 percent. Specifically, only about half as many secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) form when there’s no automotive pollution for tree emissions to interact with. SOAs are integral to the formation of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, two EPA-regulated air pollutants.
On a final note, trees emit more pollutants as weather gets hotter. Hopefully, global warming isn’t real. Also, trees produce oxygen.
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