Trees Naure's Gifts

Make no mistake about it – we are all contributors to global warming. We demand electricity to power our appliances. We burn fuel to heat our homes. We believe it is our right to own and drive a vehicle - and all of these produce carbon dioxide, a gas that is the direct cause of the greenhouse effect. Over 100 kms. above the earth, the ever-increasing volume of this gas is trapping the heat emitted from the earth and causing a small but steady rise in mean temperatures. The anticipated effects of this is obvious by the reduction of glaciers, the melting of ice-caps and gradual changes in weather patterns. We blame carbon dioxide for this. It has become our enemy – and yet this is not true. Without carbon dioxide we would have no food to eat. Carbon dioxide is our friend – it is the huge surplus of carbon dioxide – for which we humans are directly responsible – that is our enemy.

All plants need carbon dioxide. It is an essential part of their food chain, without which they would be unable to grow. Trees, grains, vegetables, etc. take in carbon dioxide from the air through their leaves, and using a complex system called photosynthesis, using the energy from the sun, convert this gas into glucose, the building material from which cells are created and growth can occur. Animals, including humans, cannot produce glucose even though we need it to survive and grow, and so we obtain it from the plants and/or the animals.

If the benefits to mankind stopped there, still we would be grateful, and yet additional service is given to us by trees and plants; the complex photosynthesis process also requires hydrogen, yet another gas. The plant does not take this from the atmosphere, however, but by its roots as two parts hydrogen one part oxygen (H20). Then breaks up the molecules, keeps the hydrogen and releases oxygen, thus giving us the very air we breathe. Without trees and plants we would not only starve to death but eventually suffocate.

Global warming has been exacerbated not only by pumping more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also by the exploitation and spoilage of our forests. Deforestation has become dramatic. To survive, we must reverse the process. We are trying to do that. However, it is not an easy task though. Let us say that you have a modest house of 100 sq. mts., one car and a smoker. Just for your own lifestyle to be making a zero contribution to the carbon dioxide build-up, you need, somewhere in the world, to plant quite a lot of trees.