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Earth has way more trees than we thought, but not nearly as many as it used to

Earth has way more trees than we thought, but not nearly as many as it used to

By on 3 Sep 2015 3:15 pmcommentsShare

As of yesterday, we now know (roughly) how many trees there are on Earth — about 3.04 TRILLION! If that seems like a lot or a little or if you actually have no idea how many trees you thought were on Earth, consider this: Scientists used to think that the number was around 400 BILLION. And if they’re that far off on tree count, imagine how wrong they are about climate change! Kidding, kidding. Relax, everyone.

The previous estimate was so low because it was based solely on satellite images from space. The new and improved estimate combines satellite data with more than 429,775 on-ground measurements, the AP reports. Why would someone suddenly take the time to count how many trees were on Earth, you ask? Funny story:

According to the AP, this all started when a group of kids decided to plant 1 billion trees in order to combat climate change. They asked Thomas Crowther of Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies if doing so would actually make a difference, and Crowther was like, “Huh … I don’t know. How many trees are there on Earth, anyway?”

Fast forward two years, and Crowther and his colleagues have published a study in Nature reporting the new estimate (watch the cool video above for more on their research).

That there are so many CO2-capturing trees on this devastatingly polluted space sphere may sound like good news, but things look a little less rosy when you consider what Earth used to look like. Here’s more from the AP:

“These things really dominate our planet,” Crowther said. “They are the most prominent organisms on our planet and there are 3 trillion of them.”

But Earth used to be covered with far more trees. Using computer models, Crowther and colleagues estimated that before human civilization Earth had about 5.6 trillion trees. So the number of trees on Earth has been chopped nearly in half.

Crowther mostly blames people. His study found that 15 billion trees are cut down each year by people, with another 5 billion trees replanted. That’s a net loss of 10 billion trees a year. At that rate, all of Earth’s trees will be gone in about 300 years.

“Humans are diminishing that huge population on such a global scale,” Crowther said.

Nearly 1.4 trillion of Earth’s trees are in tropical and subtropical forests, but that’s also where the rate of forest loss is the highest, the study found.

On the plus side, at least now Crowther can finally go back to those earnest youngsters and say: “No, children — your efforts will not make a difference. Life is full of disappointments that way.” And those almost-activists can go on to become the apathetic teens their hormones so desperately want them to be.

Source:

Lots of trees to hug: Study counts 3 trillion trees on Earth

, The Associated Press.

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Earth has way more trees than we thought, but not nearly as many as it used to

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India Will Plant 2 Billion Trees Along Highways, Creating Jobs For 300,000 Youths

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India Will Plant 2 Billion Trees Along Highways, Creating Jobs For 300,000 Youths

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Raising Your Environmental Awareness

Environmental awareness has become a bigger focus for several years now; in the marketplace, the news and more than likely in your everyday life. Teaching children in early school life about how to protect the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling is a great step people has made in an effort to preserve our environment. Every effort made to live a cleaner, greener and lower impact life is important. What is there left to do to get greener when you feel like you’re doing it all? Humans keep on progressing. The past century has seen the introduction and reliance on unsustainable energy and fuel use. Rather than turning back time, we can take steps to modify our lifestyle and reduce our impact.

The Products

Cutting out the unnecessary products in your life is a great way to reduce the impact you have. A quick scrutiny of the products you use in your daily routine can be an easy first step to greening up. In the morning do you use seven different hair products, 6 shower gels and then apply several treatments to your teeth? Harmful ingredients in these hair and body products can cause allergies to humans and pollute the environment. By cutting down on the number you use, you can reduce the energy spent producing them, cut down on your exposure to less than healthy ingredients and have more money in your pocket.

When it comes to cleaning your home, it seems that there is a different product to buy for every task you need to do. Do not forget to choose the eco cleaners instead of buying the conventional cleaning products. Even still – you will have 12 different eco cleaners in your cupboard. Did your grandparents cleaning cupboard contain 12 different bottles? Don’t think so. Making the cleaning products yourself is not a bad idea if you want to go greener. You can easily make your own cleaning product by combing things in your kitchen such as vinegar, baking soda and lemons. When you are purchasing fewer products you cut back on cost and packaging waste.

The larger more energy consumptive products people tend to purchase are appliances. Appliances can be named as refrigerators, deep freezers, washing machines, dryers as well as various electronics. These appliances consume a huge amount of electricity every hour, so make sure you just use the needed appliances. What are unnecessary appliances? For example, you will not need a heavy duty dryer if you live alone; or you do not need a bar fridge if your family has only 5 members. Plan your purchase and choose wisely.

The Food Routine

There is much more to food than consumption. The production, transport, purchase and preparation are all crucial parts getting food onto the plate. Thinking of the way your food gets onto your plate and making adjustments to that process can reduce the impact your eating habits might have. Production of meat is a resource intensive process. Eating out of season vegetables depends on the transport of products across continents. Planting a garden so that you can produce your own fresh vegetables is an additional solution. Taking in less meat can reduce the impact your eating routine have, just as ingesting locally grown & produced foods can.

While adjusting ways of eating is usually a severe and difficult choice for some people, food store routine is a bit easier to improve. Bringing your own recycleable bags is a wonderful alternative to the plastic option provided in lots of grocery stores. Taking your own reusable bags for vegetables and fruits is a second way to reduce the plastics. Sanitary, reusable plastic or glass containers could be used to pick up meat or deli products. Plastic recycling programs are becoming better, but making sure any plastic which you do pick up in the food store can be re-cycled locally cuts down the waste you produce. We depend upon food to power our bodies. We can’t eliminate impact that food creates but we are able to try to decrease that impact.

The Waste

Disposable is never good for the environment – landfills are a commonly accepted solution to societies waste production. They are unsustainable but seemingly unavoidable solution. This problem can be solved by you buying long-lasting products, cutting down on using heavily packaged items and being aware of what you throw away. Transforming waste into soil at your own backyard is also an excellent way to go green. Wastes which are organic can be transformed, such as kitchen scraps, yard waste, pet waste and certain paper products. Vermicomposting is an in home way that depends upon the appetite of worms to absorb kitchen scraps. Carefully classifying recyclables and being a part of creating complex recycling programs in your area can be a fantastic way to divert waste from landfills.

The Carbon

People are unconsciously producing carbon dioxide everyday. Every human breath expels carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The creation of food, appliances, electricity and essentially every man created product has a corresponding output of greenhouse gases to the environment. Driving vehicles, taking flights even heating your house; it all has a carbon output. Some websites provide the calculators so that a person can calculate the carbon footprint himself. By doing the calculator yourself, you will be more aware of how much carbon you should be responsible for. Reducing or neutralizing your carbon footprint is necessary after you have found out how much carbon footprint you make. You can go green easily by exercising outside, buying less and even avoiding fossil fuel by choosing the eco-friendly transportation modes. We all understand that carbon outputs are unavoidable. However, you can become carbon neutral by buying carbon credits. Purchasing carbon credits mean you are responsible for what you cause to the environment. Some of the popular carbon sinks which help absorb carbon from the atmosphere are trees, soil and oceans. Compliance and voluntary carbon credits are 2 typical types of carbon credits which are being sold to industry, business and individuals. Buyers can totally rest assured because all the carbon credits are verified. The carbon credit cost is very reasonable, only 25 dollars per tonne. A terrifically eco conscious way to spend the money saved by greening up other aspects of your life.

Purchasing the carbon credits yourself is very important. If every individual is aware of the carbon output he makes and tries to offset it, this can lead to transformation of the environmental consciousness of the whole countries. The environmental awareness is an important part of being a responsible citizen of the Earth. In summary, to protect our Mother Earth, you should consume thoughtfully, purchase products wisely and join the activities of carbon credits markets.

If you want to read more about Carbon Credit Aggregation, then visit this site Global Emissions Offset Corp. (GEOC).

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Utah Republican proposes bill to prepare for climate-change-worsened wildfires

Utah Republican proposes bill to prepare for climate-change-worsened wildfires

Yesterday, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment declared that the air in Salt Lake City constituted a health emergency. From CBS News:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has singled out the greater Salt Lake region as having the nation’s worst air for much of January, when an icy fog smothers mountain valleys for days or weeks at a time and traps lung-busting soot.

That’s what led more than 100 Utah doctors to petition state officials on Wednesday. They suggest lowering highway speed limits, making mass transit free for the winter and curbing industrial activities. They also call for a permanent ban on wood-burning, and want large employees to let people work from home.

Levels of soot in the air around Salt Lake City reached 130 micrograms per cubic meter — well above the EPA’s clean air standard of 35 micrograms.

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Smog over Salt Lake City, 2006.

Interestingly, at about the same time that the physicians group made its declaration, a (Republican!) state legislator in Utah introduced a bill targeting one key contributor to air pollution and soot: wildfires. Climate change is expected to vastly increase the number of wildfires in the state, for which Rep. Kraig Powell suggests the state should plan in advance. From The Salt Lake Tribune:

Powell … is proposing legislation, HB77, that urges the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to adopt pre-suppression strategies with an eye on the how climate change is already affecting wildfire in the Utah.

Scientists say climate change is already driving an increase in extreme weather-related events, such as the record-setting 2012 fire season. Higher temperatures, coupled with early spring snowmelt, dry out the soil, vegetation and trees, and fuels more and bigger wildfires.

Powell’s bill would assist the forestry and state lands office in planning for and tackling the growing wildfire activity.

Powell is embracing one of the clearest arguments for immediate action on climate change: that it saves money over the long run. Investing in preventative measures now — even measures that prevent damage from climate change as opposed to curtailing warming overall — means saving money in future years. Hurricane Sandy will end up costing the federal government $60 billion — far more than it would have cost to retrofit New York’s subway system or even to install a surge barrier at the mouth of New York Harbor. In the wake of Sandy, Republicans at the national level took a different tack than Powell, arguing solely for repair and not for prevention.

One of Powell’s inspirations was iMatter, a youth-oriented group calling for action on climate issues. The group has been active for years, including at one point suing the Utah Department of Transportation for the right to hold a protest. The Tribune last year outlined how iMatter influenced Powell:

Powell, an attorney, said he was impressed by the depth of knowledge iMatter members had, as well as their passion. …

In early meetings with Powell, iMatter members shared some of what they had learned about wildfire in Utah. For instance, they told how the state already has seen 400,000 acres burned this year with suppression costs of $47.1 million — part of a trend prompted by record hot and dry periods.

They also told how rehabilitating burned areas often costs more than fighting the wildfire itself. Their example? The 2007 Milford Flat fire which racked up a $5 million bill for suppression, while rehabilitating the scarred forest and range cost $17 million.

That’s what led to the concept for the bill …

It is not clear whether the bill will pass. In 2010, both houses of the Utah legislature approved a resolution opposing efforts to curb climate change. Since then, evidence that climate change poses short- and long-term threats to the state has only increased. Such evidence is not always enough.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Utah Republican proposes bill to prepare for climate-change-worsened wildfires

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