News | L.A. Times | March 2025

‘L.A. trees are kicking ass.’ Urban plants capture more CO2 than expected, study finds

Give it up for Los Angeles’ urban trees

A new study found they’re surprisingly good at absorbing the carbon dioxide we spew into the air with all our cars, energy consumption and corporate industrialization.

Researchers from USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences published their findings in the journal “Environmental Science & Technology” last month.

Using an array of sensors set up across a swath of central L.A., the team tracked CO2 emissions during an 18-month period. Over the course of a year, trees absorbed up to 60% of CO2 emissions on average during daytime, according to the study — significantly more than expected.