The citizens living in the neighborhood of Brighton Park, Chicago are suffering from the massive amount of carbon dioxide in the air due to the lack of public parks within the neighborhood! Citizens are forced to travel far to utilize a nearby park in another neighborhood to exercise, play, and hang out. As the neighborhood also includes a highway (Interstate 55) that passes through, this results in massive amounts of carbon dioxide emissions not being stored properly. 

Parks are especially useful and have many benefits. As Brighton Park is covered in roads and buildings, there is barely any space left for trees and plants. With the addition of new parks, the trees and plants planting there can act as carbon sinks, effectively storing the carbon dioxide emissions around them. Moreover, parks allow citizens to play, exercise, and hang out with friends. 

Long-term effects of lacking parks/green spaces can have serious consequences. As carbon dioxide contributes to climate change, the earth will continue to warm up, as will the neighborhood of Brighton Park. By building more parks in the neighborhood, we can at least slow down the effect of climate change. 

Let’s get more parks in Brighton Park!