Change the future: Plant a tree

Trees are more valuable to us because they are an integral part of our lives. Without trees we would have less oxygen since they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Trees cool the atmosphere. Trees give us food and materials to build our homes and so much more. If you have space in your landscape, consider adding another tree. Here are two reasons why:

— It is good to have a diversity of trees in your landscape. If they are all the same, when one is affected by a disease, the other trees are not a host to it. But there are many more benefits to trees. They cool the air, land and water if strategically placed. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, trees cool shaded surfaces between 20-45 degrees Fahrenheit below the peak temperature of any unshaded surface nearby.  

­— As for larger towns and cities, trees can be used to cool the street and homes. Trees release water vapor into the air through their leaves cooling the town or city down 10 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, one single small tree has the capacity to cool as much as 10 single-room air conditioners over a 20-hour period.

On a global scale, forests removed about one-third of fossil fuel emissions annually from 1990-2007. Trees remove pollution such as the 26,000 tons removed from greater Kansas City, Missouri, each year. Wildfires occurring in the west and other places globally lessen the capacity of forests to remove fossil fuels.

According to the Arbor Day Foundation, 180 million Americans depend on forest watersheds for their drinking water. The natural water filtration trees provide can lower costs associated with drinking water treatment.

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