THE TREES OF OUR LIVES

Sometimes, the greatest journeys occur when we stand still. This is an important lesson from one of nature’s miracle-workers — the tree. Today, as the world comes to a standstill, trees offer us amazing journeys, of insight, learning and memory. In heeding trees, we enrich ourselves immeasurably. Much of the current situation the world faces now comes from its growing disconnect with — and disregard for — nature, its unbounded beauty and its clear boundaries, between species, ecosystems and human needs versus greed. Indeed, in humanity’s arrogance over ‘mastering’ the natural world, we have somewhere forgotten that we are simply one part of it.

This moment offers us a valuable opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with nature’s tapestry, starting with an ideal guide — trees. As Times Evoke’s global experts point out, trees are among the world’s most astonishing marvels of science. A single tree gives two humans clean air to breathe while forming a home for multiple species. Trees cool the air — studies find one tree can have the cooling effect of 10 air-conditioning units — and endow it with moisture, mitigating heat. A tree removes harmful atmospheric chemicals and replenishes groundwater supplies. Through carbon sequestration, trees absorb carbon dioxide, storing this away for years, while protecting the very ground we stand on, preventing soil erosion in floods and storms. Wondrously, trees do all this as sentient beings, communicating with other trees, forming a secret underground world of networks which ‘speak’. A global planting of trees, scientists say, can even powerfully mitigate climate change, removing upto two-thirds of the pollutants induced into Earth’s atmosphere by human activity.

Matter referenced:

Times of India, Ahmedabad, Saturday, 18th April, 2020.

By: Dr. Bhawana Asnani.

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