The variations. The colors. Apples falling to the ground. Warm summer days in the shade below. If one is looking for beauty on this planet, look no further than our majestic trees. They’re everywhere.
A recent Yale University study estimated there are over three trillion trees on earth. (How this study was done I have NO idea.) That’s over 400 trees for every person. You’d think that would be enough to go around. Turns out it’s not.
Trees are disappearing at an alarming rate. Each year 15 billion are lost. And this has serious consequences.
Thomas Crowther, the lead author of the Yale study, is a post-doctoral fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He says trees “store huge amounts of carbon, are essential for the cycling of nutrients, for water and air quality, and for countless human services.”
Read “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate ― Discoveries from a Secret World” by Peter Wohlleben and you’ll understand that trees are alert, sophisticated and intelligent.
And yet, since humans appeared on earth, nearly half (46% to be exact) of the tree population has gone away.
So what can we do?
- The UN’s Billion Tree Campaign “encourages the planting of indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment.” One of the easiest ways to reverse the degradation of the tree population is to simply plant one. (The link above will guide you through the process if you’ve never done it before.)
- One Tree Planted (onetreeplanted.org) plants a tree for every dollar donated to their organization. Think about all the dollars you’ve wasted in the last few weeks alone. Why not grow a tree instead?
- Spirit of Trees, Trees for the Future and the Arbor Day Foundation are all doing valuable work in this field. Each of them is worthy of a few minutes of your times and a few dollars of your money.
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