CDCGeoSWG Series #4: Green Space Traditional Cache
CDCGeoSWG Series #4: Green Space
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Placed in time for CDC’s 2012 GIS week, this is the fourth in a series of caches that are linked to notable public health people, events, or themes. This cache is a simple uncamouflaged container, easily visible from a path along a waterway within a local urban green space.
Urban green spaces and forests provide more than just scenic views within the built environment; they provide tangible benefits to human health. A recent national survey examining the environmental factors contributing to a person’s outdoor physical activity found that accessibility to parks and the presence of enjoyable scenery were of significant importance, and in those with lower incomes the presence of enjoyable scenery was the overriding factor.
Green spaces and trees provide multiple mental health benefits: children with greener play settings exhibit less severe ADD symptoms, heavily forested parks provide greater stress relief as compared to treeless ones, and walking to breathe in forest-air (also known in Japan as Shinrin-yoku) decreased depression and hostility. The presence of green space also has recuperative effects. Specifically, a study published in the journal Science found that having a green view from your hospital room hastened recovery time in postoperative patients; in examining 10 years of patient data from a Pennsylvania hospital, it was found that post-operative patients with a tree view had a shorter duration of visit, had fewer negative evaluations from nurses, and took fewer doses of pain medications, compared to those with a view of a brick wall.
Beyond mental health, green spaces also help to reduce exposures to hazardous environmental conditions. For example, urban trees trap and absorb airborne pollutants through the adherence of fine particles on their leaves and needles. Trees also reduce runoff and improve water quality by intercepting rainfall and stabilizing soil. Urban forests reduce heat and energy consumption due to cooling effects. In particular, the planting and maintenance of urban forests exhibits great potential as an effective adaption strategy to curb the effects of a changing climate (e.g. increased likelihood of more intense, longer-lasting and more frequent heat-waves) and the resulting negative health outcomes (e.g. increased heat-related injuries and deaths).
Although not an EarthCache, hopefully your visit to this example of an urban green space provides you with both an appreciation of the role green spaces play in our cities, demonstrates an example of how an odd strip of land such as this wedge in between developed areas can serve in this role, as well as provides you with an enjoyable geocaching experience.
Replacement (8/12/17) is with a micro container.
Replacement (2/27/25) moved to south side of trail.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fbhgu fvqr bs genvy, rlr yriry.
Treasures
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