Relation between the extent of forests and life expectancy at birth
Keywords:
forests, Human Development Index (HDI), health gain, gross domestic product (GDP), life expectancy at birthAbstract
A forest should not be simply regarded as a set of trees, it means much more than that. With no exaggeration, forests are indispensable for preserving the health of the human body and soul; particularly in densely inhabited European countries. In our research, we studied various macro indicators of twenty countries in order to determine which factors are correlated with life expectancy at birth. Index numbers available included: per capita GDP (gross domestic product) (in USD); number of the country’s population (n); territory of the country (km²); extent of forests (%); and Human Development Index (HDI). Our aim was to determine whether any correlation exists, and if yes, to which degree, between the extent of forests and life expectancy at birth in the different countries.