By planting 20 million trees, the earth and its people will be provided with 260 million more tons of oxygen. Those same 20 million trees will remove 10 million tons of CO2.
Elon Musk has pledged to donate $1 million to a campaign that hopes to plant 20 million trees around the world starting on January 1. He even changed his Twitter name to Treelon.
Ethiopians have planted more than 350 million trees in a single day as part of a campaign to fight deforestation and climate change. Getahun Mekuria, Ethiopia's minister of innovation and technology, said 353,633,660 seedlings were planted in 12 hours on Monday.
One estimate put the number at around 400 billion trees worldwide based on satellite images.
We would run out of Earth to plant trees on in under 20 years. To bring us back to pre-Industrial Revolution levels of 250 ppm, we would have to plant about 353 billion trees covering 24% of the Earth's surface and stop burning all fossil fuels right now.
YouTuber MrBeast's tree-planting campaign reached its goal of raising $20 million. YouTube star MrBeast launched a campaign in October to raise money to plant 20 million trees in honor of reaching 20 million subscribers on the video-sharing platform.
As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating. New research estimates that a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions from human activities that remain in the atmosphere today, a figure the scientists describe as “mind-blowing”.
Given that plants do not have pain receptors, nerves, or a brain, they do not feel pain as we members of the animal kingdom understand it. While these plants visibly display a clear sensory capacity, recent research has shown that other plants are able to perceive and respond to mechanical stimuli at a cellular level.
As plants take up less carbon dioxide, more will be left in the atmosphere, which leads to more warming and more dry years. It's a vicious cycle that accelerates the rate of climate change. Planting and protecting forests is considered one of the primary strategies for climate change mitigation.
As to the “number of trees” this represents, it's impossible to get an accurate count. Tree density in primary forests varies from 50,000-100,000 trees per square km, so the math would put this number at 3.5 billion to 7 billion trees cut down each year.
Life could not exist on Earth without trees because they produce most of the oxygen that humans and wildlife breathe. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen using the process of photosynthesis. Additionally, trees provide a supply of lumber, seeds, and fruit.
As trees grow, they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees provide many benefits to us, every day.
The fall may be the best season to plant, surpassing even the spring. Many people prefer January through March for planting, but the fall months of September through December have distinct advantages.
Statistically, if everyone planted a tree, the amount would still be dwarfed by the population of trees around the world, because there are currently three trillion trees around the world. This is around 400 trees for every living human!
The Benefits of Trees
- Clean air: Trees produce oxygen, intercept airborne particulates, and reduce smog, enhancing a community's respiratory health.
- Climate change: Trees sequester carbon (CO2), reducing the overall concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- Energy conservation:
Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilise the soil and give life to the world's wildlife. They also provide us with the materials for tools and shelter.
Through a process called photosynthesis, leaves pull in carbon dioxide and water and use the energy of the sun to convert this into chemical compounds such as sugars that feed the tree. But as a by-product of that chemical reaction oxygen is produced and released by the tree.
Many GameKeepers take pride in knowing the hard work they put into planting trees now will pay off for future generations. Trees improve the environment by preventing and controlling erosion, and help to clean the air and water. The benefits of trees far outweigh the costs, making them a wise investment for the future.
The good news is that while governments are still disagreeing, each individual can take action by planting trees. Planting six trees per month is enough to compensate for the CO2 emissions we produce, taking into account the annual global average of around six tons of CO2 per person.
