The Photosynthetic Silence: What Does It Cost the Air and Health?
The felling of mature trees leads to a severe net environmental damage to air quality, which directly impacts public health, with respiratory diseases constantly on the rise in urban centers.
Oxygen Production and Pollutant Filtering: A single adult tree can produce enough oxygen to cover the annual needs of 10 people. Crucially, a tree’s capacity to filter pollutants like fine particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) is directly proportional to its leaf mass. Adult plants absorb a quantity of $CO_2$ that is up to 31% higher than young ones.
The Theoretical Cost: Based on the (prudent) assumption that one adult tree can cover the oxygen demand of 10 people, the felling of over 13,000 specimens in recent years implies a theoretical loss in oxygen production for 130,000 people, which is about 4.7% of Rome's population. And this is only the oxygen data.
The Double Mockery of Replacement: The promise of replanting is met with a double problem:
Inadequate Variety and Landscape Damage: The use of slow-growing varieties, such as "Totem Cypresses", offers significantly less leaf mass, shade volume, and oxygen production, altering the landscape for decades.
Lack of Irrigation and Death: The tragedy of the Capital is that even the few saplings planted often do not receive enough water, especially during Rome's torrid summers. Many new trees wither and die shortly after planting, nullifying the replacement effort and squandering public funds. This failure is so widespread that citizen volunteers are often forced to take care of the irrigation themselves to save the young tree heritage.
Increased Health Risks: Removing thousands of natural air filters contributes to pollutant accumulation, representing a significant risk factor in a city battling daily smog peaks and the rise of respiratory and cardiac pathologies linked to poor air quality.

Environmental Inconsistency: Private Vehicles vs. Obsolete Public Fleets
The Capital's environmental policy appears to be sailing through a critical paradox:

This inconsistency undermines the credibility of any "green" plan: on one hand, citizens are required to make sacrifices; on the other, the essential public service and institutional fleets are allowed to be a structural source of pollution. The health of the air and of Romans' lungs is thus compromised twice: both by the removal of natural filters (trees) without effective replacement, and by the persistence of high-emission pollution sources.
The serial felling of historic trees, coupled with negligence toward low vegetation and the maintenance of polluting public transport fleets, paints a picture where the Capital's interest seems more oriented towards presumed aesthetic requalification that completely disregards the historicity of certain arboreal choices and, consequently, the identity value of the landscape, nor the safeguarding of its "urban forest"—a vital green infrastructure for the health of its inhabitants.

Notes:

CS CNR 2025, 11 Giu Isole di calore, uno studio ne rileva l'intensità in tutti i capoluoghi di regione italiani

CS Cnr-Ibe 2020, 30 Set Caldo estivo in città: pochi alberi e consumo di suolo Scienzaonline

Manzi R. 14 Ottobre 2025 Abbattuto il Ginkgo Biloba centenario simbolo di Villa Borghese: proteste e indignazione tra i cittadini GreenMe

Masneri M. 2025 07 ott L'impero delle motoseghe: il modello Roma e il mausoleo di Augusto senza verde (verticale) Il Foglio

Fare Verde 2025, 20 giu. FARE VERDE ROMA: A PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA GLI ALBERI DI GUALTIERI MORTI IN MENO DI UN ANNO

Buzzelli A. e Zanchi M. 19 giugno 2025 Ecco il verde di Gualtieri: alberi secchi e prati aridi nelle piazze del Giubileo Il Tempo

Tamburrano D. 2025, 4 lug. Alberi secchi a Roma, i morti in piedi dei restyling voluti da Gualtieri

*Board Member, SRSN (Roman Society of Natural Science)
Past Editor-in-Chief Italian Journal of Dermosurgery