Nature
12 important reasons the planet needs trees
Trees provide us with oxygen so we can breathe every day. They also give us the materials for tools and shelter. Trees stabilize soil, absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, and give refuge to the world’s wildlife. There’s no doubt about it: Trees are vital to our planet and the planet needs trees. Forests cover roughly 30% of the world’s land area. Besides their intrinsic beauty, richness and unique diversity, they are a major provider of various vital components of a healthy, functioning Earth.
Forests are a vital source of food, fibre, timber, medicine, habitat, and culture for humans. An international study concluded that more than 1.6 billion people directly depend on forests and 80% of the global terrestrial biodiversity of these forests.Here are the top 12 reasons the planet needs trees:
1. Forests host 80 % of all terrestrial biodiversity
Animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms function as the elements necessary for the existence of life and human society, and they also can benefit us economically.
2. Trees provide oxygen
A single mature tree generates enough oxygen for two to ten people. Through photosynthesis, trees produce oxygen that humans and many other organisms depend on to live. Without oxygen, life as we know it would not be possible. Although the phytoplankton in the oceans accounts for at least half of the world’s oxygen, forests thus also play a key role.
3. Forests contribute to our well-being
A study has suggested that hospital patients find healing by viewing trees and green spaces from hospital windows, which decreases their stress, and that school kids do much better when they have a view of nature and are to play outdoors.
Green is likely to make us happy, and spending time in a forest further calms us down.
4. Forests provide jobs and incomes
Forests comprise a wide range of income and investment opportunities for humankind. Some examples include forest products used in processes such as transportation and construction, energy extracted from forest products, and the investments made in forest companies. They also cover the protection of sites and landscapes of cultural, spiritual, or recreational value. Maintenance and enhancement of the functions is a crucial part of sustainable forest management.
5. Trees clean the air
While trees give off oxygen and sustain our very lives, the U.S. Forest Service reminds us why the planet needs trees is that trees also help to clean the air and reduce the negative effects that carbon dioxide could have on our environment. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, “During one year, a mature tree will absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen in exchange.”
6. Trees provide food
By growing fruit and nut trees on your property, you can produce a generous amount of food that you can share with all your family members, friends, neighbors, other family members, and others in your community.
7. Trees increase property values
If a house has mature trees on it, its value can be in the range of 7 and 19 percent higher than if there were no trees.
8. Trees hold soil in place
Tree roots penetrate deep into the soil, growing deeply into it, creating a strong foundation that prevents erosion and occurs on steep slopes and other terrains.
9. Trees help to save energy
The trees provide shade and lower surface and air temperatures according to Environmental Protection Agency explains that.
10. Trees reduce crime
Scientists at Illinois’s University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign determined that residents of public housing in Chicago had 25 percent fewer instances of violent and property offenses when they lived in a neighborhood with nearby trees and natural landscapes.
11. Forests slow down global warming
Trees and other green plants take in carbon dioxide that humans and other organisms produce.
Without the many forests that remain on earth, the levels of CO2 in the air would be even greater now. More forests mean less CO2 in the air and less global warming. This is another reason why the planet needs trees as approximately 18 % of current global warming is due to the loss of forests.
12. Trees save water
The shade from the trees slows down the evaporation of the water, thereby leaving thirsty lawns lush and green.
Probably one of the most important reasons our planet needs trees is that trees save water. Agricultural degradation and deforestation threaten the livelihood of numerous nations. Their effects on global fields such as biodiversity, climate change, human rights, peace and security, good governance and the rule of law are significant. Therefore, substantial action to combat deforestation and forest degradation is needed.