원문정보
초록
영어
Increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon and fine particulate matter (PM) is a serious environmental concern in the world. The purpose of this study was to quantify carbon and PM2.5 reduction by urban parks in Gangneung, Korea. A total of 35 parks was sampled applying a random sampling method to survey tree planting structures and areal distribution of land cover types of urban parks. These survey data and GET (Green Evaluation Technique) computer program were used to estimate annual carbon and PM2.5 reduction by trees. Mean tree density and cover in the study parks were 3.2 ± 0.2 trees/100 m2 and 44.5 ± 3.0%, respectively. Annual carbon uptake and PM2.5 deposition per unit area by the trees averaged 2.8 ± 0.2 t/ha/yr and 30.2 ± 2.8 kg/ha/yr. The annual carbon emissions from energy consumption of household and the annual PM2.5 emissions from human activities were 39 kt/yr and 407 t/yr in the study city, respectively. Gangneung’s urban parks annually offset the carbon emissions by 3.4% and the PM2.5 emissions by 3.5%. Thus, urban parks played an significant role in reducing atmospheric carbon and PM2.5 concentration. This study is expected to contribute to sharing the role and importance of urban parks regarding carbon and PM2.5 reduction.