Research done at Michigan State University in East Lansing has determined that filling rooftops with plants and dirt can help to pull heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If this isn’t a reason to install green roofs on every single building that can hold them, I don’t know what is!

From the report at Discovery news:

Green roofs offer a long list of known benefits. They lower air-conditioning costs in the summer by absorbing and reflecting heat. They lower heating costs in the winter by adding extra insulation. Green roofs appeal to cities because they soak up rainwater, making excess stormwater less likely to flood sewage systems and inflate sewage treatment costs. Plant-filled rooftops make urban areas less likely to become heat islands. They reduce air pollution and noise pollution. And vegetation, even when it’s several stories up, provides habitat for animals.

The metropolitan area of Detroit has between about 65 million square meters and 85 million square meters of rooftop land. Greening all of that area would be like removing 10,000 mid-sized SUVs or trucks from the roads for a year. Now that would be something. Imagine if we could do that in every major city! I know Chicago is working on greening all their rooftops; let’s hope it catches on everywhere else.