If we want to reduce the heat we need to plant way more trees.
They provide shade, food, and effectively cool down the environment because they don’t hold heat like asphalt, pavement, bricks, traditional roofs, etc.
Trees provide habitat for birds which eat immense amounts of insects including caterpillas, mosquitos and flies, while also fertilizing the soil with their excrements.
Some trees fix nitrogen into the ground making the soil more fertile in a natural and effortless and free way, just by standing there.
More trees also means more wood.
Trees can be used to create food forests, which in turn reduce the chances of forest fires because with well-managed living crops growing in the soil under the trees they hold more moisture and don’t catch on fire so easily.
Add a small amount of chickens per large area and you have extra fertilization and excellent pest control as they eat the insects that also like to eat vegetables. And you get eggs!
Tree roots also hold the soil together, preventing soil erosion while providing excellent drainage so that when it rains, the water can penetrate the soil faster, preventing floods as well.
You have total control over how much shade they provide, you can pollard them and shape the canopy any way you want to provide just the right amount of light.
All you need is a saw, you can prune them at shoulder height.
Planting tree’s is a noble thing for our future.
More importantly we have to stop clear cutting our mature trees. If we could do that there would be no need to plant more of them. As a tree surgeon myself I am guilty of removing many thousands………
I have a neighbor with Black Walnut trees on the edge of our properties. I’ve been tempted to root some cuttings. It would take at least 70 years for them to mature for harvesting. But for future owner, planet? Conflicted. Don’t need bad karma and don’t trust my motives are altruistic. Any thoughts.
I’m with you. I run a small woodworking business. I do everything I can to minimize waste, but there’s always a bit. Recently, I started donating 1 tree for every purchase through onetreeplanted.org. $1 = 1 tree. They seem to be the most reputable tree charity that I could find. I might not be saving the planet, but it helps me sleep a little better at night.
Indeed it is!
Deforestation is the 2nd most important factor of the greenhouse effect with the burning of fossil fuels being number 1. Trees consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen into our air and act as a filter. Also when we cut down trees they release all their stored up carbon adding to the problem.
It’s like a double whammy effect. First we loose the trees, then said trees get burned! One tree is capable of offsetting more than it produces once burned.
Hmmm…so if we stop cutting down trees and use hemp instead, the burnt material is more than compensated for by the trees that are alive and productive. 🪴 🪴
(Part 3)
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