Trees don’t just make our cities greener, they actively fight climate change by pulling carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air. This process, called assimilation, happens when trees absorb CO₂ during photosynthesis and turn it into sugars to fuel their growth. But here’s the twist: only part of that CO₂ ends up locked away in trunks and roots (what scientists call sequestration). The rest? It’s used to grow leaves, flowers, and fruits or to produce natural defenses, still valuable, but harder to track.

That’s why direct measurement of assimilation is so important. In the LIFE Urbangreen and VerdeVale projects, researchers used an infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) to do that. This tool calculates how much CO₂ a leaf takes in by comparing the air before and after it flows across the leaf, using the fact that CO₂ absorbs infrared light.

The GreenSpaces platform, with its benefits module activated, brings this science to life. It estimates daily CO₂ uptake by trees using real weather data and scientific algorithms, revealing just how much urban forests contribute to climate action.

Want to learn more? Don’t miss the next Green Pill!