How does your tree planting on National Tree Day help? One good reason is that planting billions of trees across the world is by far the cheapest and most effective way to tackle the climate crisis, according to a study published recently in the journal Science.
As trees grow, they absorb and store the carbon dioxide emissions that are driving global heating, and the scientist authors of the study, who have calculated how many trees could be planted without encroaching on crop land or urban areas, estimate that a worldwide planting programme could remove two-thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere through human activity.
Since its inception in 1996, National Tree Day has seen Australians plant over 25 million trees around the country, citing a range of benefits* to planting trees.
These include:
- A 5 per cent increase in tree cover can reduce nearby daytime temperatures by 2.3C, which could be crucial as heatwaves cost more lives than all other climate change impacts combined
- A large healthy tree can sequester up to 93kg of CO2 and 1.4kg of air pollution a year
- Time spent in green outdoor spaces can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes
- Time in nature reduces stress, improves happiness, wellbeing and productivity.
So why not go out into your garden any weekend and see where you could plant a tree for your family’s and the planet’s future wellbeing? To find out more, see treeday.planetark.org
*Planet Ark’s first edition of the Tree Report, entitled Living Cities: Trees in the Urban Environment.
Skyline Tree Care is here to help with all your tree care and planting services visit our Tree Care Page to find out more or give your closest office a call on 1300 669 949.