There were two stories in Time Magazine that caught my attention last week.  One is about living longer and the other is about dying, but they have one key thing in common: reducing our air pollution.

In the first story, “Want to Live Longer? Cut the Pollution”, they cite a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study details increased life spans for people who live in areas where pollution has been curbed.  Now this should not come as a surprise to anyone, but it is reassuring to see statistics to back it up.

In the second story, “Study: U.S. Trees Dying at Alarming Rate”, they look at the findings of a thirty-year study published in the journal Science.  The study finds that the death rate of trees in the western U.S. has more than doubled in the last few decades.  These are trees of all sizes and types in healthy, well-established forests.

We have already lost millions of tress to beetle infestations, but these are apparently healthy trees without evidence of infestation that have been weakened by global warming.  The real irony is that trees soak up large quantities of carbon dioxide and are critically important in slowing climate change.  So these trees will not be around to help clean the air and their dying actually releases carbon dioxide back into the air as a kind of global warming double whammy.

As temperatures slowly rise, this problem will worsen since the summer season will be longer which causes trees to be stressed and vulnerable to drought conditions.  More trees dying will have a direct effect on our air quality and ultimately our own longevity.

Aggressively reducing our auto emissions is a huge step in slowing the current rate of climate change.  Pay4Rides would help trees live longer, which improves the health of the planet and the air we breathe.  Now aren’t those a couple of great reasons to share rides?

photo credit: *PaysImaginaire*