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Harry Stevens
@harrystevens.bsky.social
Climate Lab columnist @washingtonpost Data, maps and curiosity about climate change 📩 Email me + check my work: harry.stevens@washpost.com
2.4k followers715 following79 posts
HSharrystevens.bsky.social

For my Climate Lab column, I made a map of how much nature is in every neighborhood in America. Spending time in nature is positively correlated with living longer & healthier. 🌳 Search the map and look up your neighborhood here: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 1/6

Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhood
Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhood

Spending time in nature is linked to a longer, healthier life. But nature is not distributed fairly across the country.

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I spend more time in "nature" now, living in a high rise in Alexandria, than I did living in a house in Fairfax. If the health benefits of nature are the point, than walkability and bikeability are as important as say tree cover.

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JDsalvagni.org

📌

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LReventsforgood.bsky.social

Hi Harry, this is a great idea and I appreciate the time and effort you put into it. Question though -- the maps don't seem to account for "nature" introductions that aren't parks or open land -- is it just that NatureQuant did not do that or was it an active choice from you and WaPo?

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MMmike.teczno.com

In California you can go one better with the CA Protected Areas Database (www.calands.org). Not just “nature” as abstractly guessed from a satellite sensor, but real land legally accessible to the public as parks or preserves.

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JMjohnmashey.bsky.social

Excellent work!

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Why should the core of a major metro city be considered "deficient" when it comes to nature access?

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HSharrystevens.bsky.social

I got these data from NatureQuant. Using satellite imagery and data on dozens of factors, they've distilled the elements of health-supporting nature into a single variable called NatureScore. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi... 2/6

Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhood
Analysis | Mapping America’s access to nature, neighborhood by neighborhood

Spending time in nature is linked to a longer, healthier life. But nature is not distributed fairly across the country.

1
HS
Harry Stevens
@harrystevens.bsky.social
Climate Lab columnist @washingtonpost Data, maps and curiosity about climate change 📩 Email me + check my work: harry.stevens@washpost.com
2.4k followers715 following79 posts