On This Year’s World Tree Day, Let’s Not Take Trees for Granted
World Tree Day was made to commemorate and honor J. Sterling Morton, a nature lover from the USA who fought and advocate for the importance of trees and insist that there needs to be a day dedicated to it.
World Tree Day serves as a perpetual reminder that the world needs, and will always need, trees in oder for lives to continue to thrive in this blue planet.
Why Tree Matters
In case you didn’t know, here are some of the benefits that trees provided for us that we might have taken for granted:
1. Cleans The Air
Trees remove pollution from the atmosphere and improve air quality. According to U.S. Forest Service, global forests managed to remove around one-third of fossil fuel emissions annually from 1990 until 2007.
Moreover, in Los Angeles, trees can remove up to 2,000 tons of air pollution each year.
2. Provide Much-Needed Cooling
According to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), trees can lower surface and air temperatures by providing shade. Shaded surfaces may be 20–45°F cooler than the peak temperatures of unshaded materials.
Trees cool the city by up to 10°F by shading our homes and streets and releasing water vapor into the air through their leaves.
3. Provide Oxygen
Trees absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen in return. It is estimated that in one year, an acre of mature trees can provide enough oxygen for 18 people.
4. Help Save Energy
Trees, when properly placed around buildings, can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and can save 20–50% in energy used for heating.
Carefully positioned trees can reduce a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling by up to 25%.
5. Benefit Wildlife
Trees make a vital wildlife habitat, especially in urban areas. In British Columbia, Canada, for instance, more than 80 wildlife species depend on trees.
In addition, sycamore and oak trees are two examples of trees that provide excellent urban homes for birds, bees, possums, and squirrels.
6. Help Preserve Water
Trees reduce water runoff by breaking rainfall and allowing water to be absorbed into the ground. When mulched, trees can act like a sponge that filters water and uses it to recharge groundwater supplies.
Plant More Trees In Every Possible Way
It’s obvious that trees are a vital element for the lives on earth, and we should plant more trees instead of cutting them down.
Besides planting trees in your own backyard or neighborhood, there are many many ways that you can help to plant more trees, such as participating in various tree-planting activities (very common and mainstream nowadays), adopting a tree through programs such as WWF’s My Baby Tree, and even switching your browser to one that converts your clicks into trees!
References:
https://www.arborday.org/trees/treefacts/
https://tirto.id/sejarah-hari-pohon-sedunia-2020-peran-pentingnya-dalam-kehidupan-f66F