Humanity finds itself at a precipice facing the greatest challenge our species has encountered. We must change many of the ways that we have relied on to power our lives and immediately reduce the amount of Co2 and other harmful gases that are destroying Earth’s atmospheric integrity and health.
Yet, we are not alone.
It is the ancestors of the plants, simple organisms that learned how to make oxygen out of sunlight and carbon via a process known as photosynthesis, that created our planet’s oxygen-rich atmosphere. An atmosphere that has allowed and supported the evolution of higher life forms and made Earth livable for a great biodiversity of species, including humans.
Plants are “atmosphere makers.” They were successful in part by doing this because at that time, forests and plants covered much of the planet’s surface.
Especially older mature trees and certain types of plants are efficient at downloading CO2 out of our atmosphere and producing life-giving oxygen. A mature oak tree filters 40 - 50 thousand gallons of carbon dioxide a year; meanwhile, a young tree only filters 180 gallons a year of carbon dioxide.
First, protect mature trees. Then plant new trees!
Mature oak trees can provide up to 10,000 acorns to support wildlife, while a young sapling will produce 0 acorns initially and only produces 1,000 - 3,000 by the time it is 20 years old.
Trees and plants not only maintain the essential life-sustaining amount of oxygen needed by us and most of life on Earth, but they also generate a moisture-rich atmosphere that provides for clouds, rain and even atmospheric rivers.
These are just some of the reasons why trees are critical to any effort to address global warming and heal the Earth’s atmosphere.
Trees today face a veritable soup of hazards. Entire forests in several states and across the globe are being killed off from drought, heat, and insect infestations.
Extreme tree die-offs have been documented on all continents, except Antarctica. For example, the sacred Hawaiian Ohi’a tree, a flowering evergreen that covers 80% of the state’s canopy, and which sustains birds and insects found nowhere else in the world, is being wiped out by a dangerous fungus. In Canada, mountain pine beetles are eating through entire forests. In 2015 alone, beetles felled over 730 million cubic meters of pine trees in British Columbia. Eucalyptus trees in Australia are also in severe decline from cutting for agricultural purposes, pathogens, fire, and pollution. It is estimated that globally, these trees have declined by no less than 30%.
At WellKind, we seek to educate and inform people about the key role that trees and forests play in maintaining an atmosphere suitable for all life on Earth.