User:Vaigaikarthik

Forests and our Climate

Forests are the “lung of the earth”. Trees and forests are important for our environment.

Trees


 * absorb carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to the “greenhouse effect”
 * produce oxigen
 * give wildlife a habitat
 * reduce water run-off and erosion
 * reduce sedimentation and regulate flooding and drought periods
 * reduce the risk of flooding during high water periods
 * cool the earth's soil by shading and by trapping snow longer
 * conserve energy by reducing heating (screening cool winds) and cooling (shading buildings) by up to 50%%

The environmental impact of planting trees is significant. On average 1 tree stores more than half a ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime and will assimilate other pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone.

On a daily basis, each tree lifts about 400 litres of water from the ground and evaporates it into the air.

Imagine the impact that 1 million trees will have and then envision the effect of 6 billion trees - or more.

We believe that climate change is a phenomena that has a number of causes.

1. changes in exposure to sun radiation 2. oscillations of nature 3. volcanic activity (above and below sea level) 4. number of people 5. deforestation and land loss 6. human conflicts (wars and warefare) 7. industry (including power generation) 8. agriculture (cattle)

There are many more and we are only learning about the complexities of our climate. We believe that the current scientific group think is triggering a wave of desirable regulations and adorable recommendations on what humans can do. What we believe is critical is that emissions from humans burning fossil-fuel are largely eradicated, where possible and economically feasable in order to reduce the risks of catastrophic climate changes in the future. There are initiatives under way. Most notable is the long-term storage of C02 emissions stemming from coal and gas power plants who are said to be responsible for one-third of global C02 emissions. Cutting those emissions alone will have a profound impact. There will have to be a lot of thinking around gas refineries and which of the gases have the least impact on emissions, considering the entire supply chain from harvesting to burning for energy. A lot of thinking has to go into air travel where emissions are brought high up into the atmosphere and stratosphere, unchecked, leaving an increasingly dense layer of pollutants and vapour behand. Also, our military activities will have to come under scrutiny where vehicles on water, ground, and air are evading all environmental regulations.

However, one must not forget the risks of reducing CO2 levels substantially. If the exposure to sun radiation is naturally reduced simultaneously, we might as well trigger the long overdue next ice age that has been postponed possibly by human induced global warming.

Here at one-tree.org we are not scientists in the field. However, from all the measures that are being taken through government regulations and taxations, we believe that there is a single most important issue that is not addressed whole heartedly. We know that the lung of the earth, our forests, has been devastated and reduced to an extent that the remains are insufficient to either assimilate enough C02 or produce enough Oxygen to keep our planet healthy, whether warm or cold. Over 70% of the forests have been chopped away to make room for asphalt jungles, agricutlrue and wastelands.

Planting trees is scientifically considered inefficient. It is believed that machines can do a better job. We believe that, as a society, we should nor wait for these machines nor should we rely on them. We are convinced that restoring forests and planting trees, billions of trees, will do a far better job than any machine can do. An average tree stores about half a ton worth of CO2 for a long time.