The Importance of Trees: Why They Matter More Than You Might Think

BY TASNEEM S. G.

If you're like most people, you might not think much about trees. They may seem to you like simple, innocuous plants, but they are just so important. You've probably heard all the usual stuff: we can't survive without trees; trees give us oxygen; humanity should stop causing so much deforestation. And that's all true. But there are so many more ways that trees positively impact our planet.

Trees serve an important role in sustaining life by providing oxygen. According to ThoughtCo, "On average, one tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four." That is a crazy amount of oxygen!

Not only do trees produce oxygen, they also help clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and removing toxic particles and pathogens. Pollutants such as sulphates, nitrates, and benzene, which are created by car exhausts, industrial emissions, coal-fired power plants, and oil refineries in large cities, are horrible for the respiratory system of all living creatures. Trees can help to absorb these harmful chemicals.

Trees also play a huge role in helping to combat climate change. As discussed in the previous point, trees help absorb a lot of carbon dioxide, which is one of the main problem-causing greenhouse gasses. In fact, it makes up 79% of all greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere. According to EPA's Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, CO2 emissions come primarily from fossil fuel combustion (cars and power plants), making up 93% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 alone. According to USDA, one average-sized tree is able to absorb hundreds and hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide over its entire lifespan.

Another benefit of trees is that they can help conserve energy by cooling their surrounding air. How does this work? The leaves on a tree release water vapour, and this cools the air around them. This can, in turn, help lower our carbon footprint. This is because it helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions that trap heat inside our planet's atmosphere.

Trees have so, so many benefits. Our world would not be able to continue to survive without them. It's outrageous how we're destroying the means of our survival! By cutting down trees, humanity is driving itself to extinction. We put thousands of millions of pounds of greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere every year, which is bad enough in itself; but now, by means of deforestation, we're destroying the trees that help absorb so much of those greenhouse gasses and keep us all alive and healthy day in and day out. In fact, according to theroundup.org, 42 million trees are cut down... per day. Imagine that. Each day that goes by, more than forty million trees are being cut down, just because of plain old human greed.

Not only are we destroying our chances of surviving another century along with these magnificent plants, but whenever a tree is cut down, it releases most of the carbon dioxide that it had spent all its life absorbing back into the air - basically undoing all the good it's done in its life, just because a human wanted it to extend his porch that's more than big enough already.

As we cut down more and more trees, there is less available shelter for wildlife. And as they lose their natural habitats, they are forced to move into human neighbourhoods in order to continue their livelihood. However, humans, being, of course, greedy, don't want them in their living space. It's outrageous - humans push animals out of their living space by intruding into them themselves and destroying them, and when the innocent animals, now homeless, wander into human areas looking for a new home, they find themselves unwelcomed and unwanted. If we humans don't want the animals in our living space, how do you think they feel when we barge into their comfortable homes and destroy them to make our own homes where they'd once stood?

Trees produce oxygen, soak up carbon dioxide, combat climate change, conserve energy, prevent soil erosion, provide homes for wildlife, cool the planet, not to mention improving the quality of our lives by adding color and beauty to our environment. No matter how you look at it, trees are an important part of a thriving ecosystem. However, humanity not only disregards how spectacular they truly are, but even goes so far as to destroy them. But as we like to say (a lot), every small step counts, and every person who chooses to tweak their daily lives for the better makes a difference.

There are so many things you can do to help trees! Avoid products including palm oil (we'll make a blog about this soon). Use less paper - use both sides in your notebook, and type online when possible. Use reusable supplies as much as you can. Use products made with recycled paper rather than newly manufactured. If there are any tree-planting projects going on in your community, participate, or just donate to organisations that are helping to protect them. Make sure the wood products you purchase are FSC-certified. Even eating less meat can help, as the animals the meat came from were raised in huge areas that, most likely, were cleared of acres and acres of forests. Every small positive change you make in your life will, like always, make a difference.