Want to save the planet? Plant a tree.

Climate change.  I know we are all concerned about it.  I read this amazing article on perhaps the single most important thing we can do to save the planet and it’s simple.  Plant a trillion trees. 

From CNN site: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/17/world/trillion-trees-climate-change-intl-scn/index.html

Tom Crowther is a climate change ecologist at Swiss university ETH Zurich. Four years ago, he found there are about 3 trillion trees already on earth -- much higher than NASA's previous estimate of 400 billion. Now, his team of researchers has calculated there is enough room on the planet for an additional 1.2 trillion -- and that planting them would have huge benefits in terms of absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide, the main driver of climate change.

"The amount of carbon that we can restore if we plant 1.2 trillion trees, or at least allow those trees to grow, would be way higher than the next best climate change solution," Crowther told CNN.

Because his research is currently under review for publication in the journal Science, he says he can't share exact figures of how much extra CO2 could be stored by those trees. But he points to numbers from Project Drawdown -- a non-profit that ranks climate solutions by the amount of CO2 they could remove from the atmosphere. Its number one ranked solution -- managing the release of HFC greenhouse gases from fridges and air conditioners -- could reduce atmospheric CO2 by 90 billion tons. Crowther says planting 1.2 trillion trees would give a reduction "way above" that figure.

To put that in context, global CO2 emissions are around 37 billion tons per year.”

Plant trees.  How simple is that?  Now I know that is a lot of trees and by my calculation that means about 150 trees for each man, woman and child.  I know that I can’t plant 300 more trees on my property so there is doubt that you would be able to plant your number of trees either.  But I do have a solution.  From Save the Redwood website:

Redwoods keep the climate healthy for us all

California’s local redwood forests are crucial in providing a healthy, stable climate. Studies show that coast redwoods capture more carbon dioxide (CO2) from our cars, trucks and power plants than any other tree on Earth. Through the process of photosynthesis, redwood trees transform carbon dioxide – the leading cause of accelerating climate change — into the oxygen we breathe.

When redwoods are cut down, burned or degraded by human actions, they release much of their stored carbon back into the atmosphere. And, they can no longer transform CO2 into the oxygen we breathe. This is a double-whammy for the growing imbalance in the world’s carbon cycle and the climate’s stability. Deforestation and other destructive land use account for nearly 25% of carbon dioxide emissions around the world.

Because California’s coast redwood forests are so efficient at capturing and transforming carbon, protecting them can have a significant impact in slowing global climate change. 

Save the Redwood League launched a new program called “Redwoods Rising”.  Redwoods Rising is a new collaboration between Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service, and California State Parks. It will greatly accelerate the pace of redwood forest recovery within these parks and help protect the area’s remaining old-growth groves. 

These partners—and you—hold the key to the future of these forests. By coming together, we can work at the pace and scale necessary to restore 70,000 acres of previously logged forests and reconnect 40,000 remaining acres of old-growth redwood forests in Redwood National and State Parks.

    “Our first priority must be our best places, the places where we have the most extensive stands of old trees,” says Emily Burns, science director for Save the Redwoods League. “Redwood National and State Parks are our greatest remaining reservoirs of redwood forest biodiversity. They contain the precious and irreplaceable components of the full, complete and healthy redwood ecosystem. It is our job to spread the ecological wealth of these ancient stands into surrounding lands.”

How do you become part of this amazing plan?  There are options.

1.) You can donate to them.  Contributions to Save the Redwoods League designated to Redwoods Rising are tax-deductible, and can be made as outright gifts of cash or stock and through a donor-advised fund, IRA, or family foundation. You also can give by phone at 888-836-0005

2.) You can become a member for as little as $25. https://secure3.convio.net/srl/site/Donation2?df_id=3780&mfc_pref=T&3780.donation=form1&s_src=srlweb&s_subsrc=rrising2019q1-projectpage-dmlink

$25 and you can help save the planet.  So, join me in planting trees and become a member of the Save the Redwood League today.