Why do we have a picture of our solar system on a tree website? It seems important to remember that the Earth is precious, and it is our only home.
Be part of a global community that cares about the planet. Planting and protecting trees helps the planet in many ways. According to the United Nations Global Forestry Resources Assessment (FRA 2005),
"..deforestation accounts for 25% of all man-made emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2)..."
How forests trap one trillion tons of carbon
When fossil fuels are burned they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to a carbon excess that in turn contributes to global warming and climate change.
Trees and forests help alleviate these changes by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converting it during photosynthesis to carbon compounds, which they then "store" in the form of wood, vegetation and soil humus, a process referred to as "carbon sequestration." Forests are unique in this capability; removing excess carbon from the atmosphere is virtually impossible by any other means.
Trees generally are about 20 percent carbon by green weight, and in addition to the trees themselves, the overall biomass of forests also acts as a "carbon sink." For instance, the organic matter in forest soils -- like the humus produced by the decomposition of dead plant material -- also acts as a very large carbon store that can store carbon for thousands of years.
As a result, forests store enormous amounts of carbon: all in all, the world's forests and forest soils currently store more than one trillion tonnes of carbon -- about one and a half time the amount found floating free in the atmosphere
Forests could be better used to combat climate change
In addition to preventing forests from being turned into other land-uses, new forest-based carbon stores should be created through afforestation (new plantings) and reforestation (replanting of deforested areas), FAO says.
Particularly in the tropics, where vegetation grows rapidly and therefore pulls carbon from the atmosphere more quickly, planting trees can remove large amounts of CO2 from the air within a relatively short time. There, forests can fix as much as 15 tonnes of carbon in their biomass and wood per hectare per year.
FAO and other experts have estimated that global carbon retention resulting from reduced deforestation, increased forest regrowth and more agroforestry and plantations could make up for about 15 percent of carbon emissions from fossil fuels over the next 50 years.
