Trees are an essential part of our lives on earth. Not only does it have unique and profound impacts on the lives of humans living on earth, but it also dramatically affects the lives of other living beings such as animals, birds, and other plants. There is not a single living being that does not depend on trees in one way or the other. There are ways in which trees are directly connected to our lives and also indirectly have a significant influence on how well-balanced and healthy our life is daily. Trees have a vital role to play in the way we lead our lives so that we can continue to prosper and cherish each molecule of the air we get to breathe every day, year after year. Here, we will discuss the importance of trees in detail.
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Love The Earth And Work Towards A Better World
Many people today tend to forget the importance of trees and forests are in our lives. They tend to take these innocent creatures for granted and exploit them in various ways for their own selfish needs. An estimated average shows that by the year 2050, approximately 66 percent of the world’s residents will turn into an urban one, that is, urbanization will take up such a rapid speed that it can fasten the pace of the life of each individual. With this increase in advancement, comes the problem of drastic climate change.
Climate change is a global phenomenon that has risked the well-being and health of people all around the world. These radical changes have come into effect because of the carelessness that people show by taking trees and other forms of nature for granted. One of the significant challenges and strengths that humans have against this considerable problem is trees. Trees are one of the most potent weapons we have against shielding ourselves from climate change and building a better and more protected and healthier world for us as well as our future generations.
How Can Trees Help Us In Enhancing Our Lives?
For us to build up a strong base and enhance the lives of every individual and every living being on earth, we have to focus on the significant role that trees play in our lives. Trees have a firm hand in helping us to develop a vibrant and healthy community for the people across the world. Trees have been significantly important in showing how it has helped the world to grow by sustaining different forms of life constantly. Let us take a look at some points that show us why trees are essential and vital to our survival.
Planting trees and in turn, maintaining the trees should be made a part of urban planning. This is a great solution as it is both simple as well as nature-based! Reducing crime, providing wildlife habitat, addressing the issue of pollution, stormwater management and supporting the physical and mental health of people are all challenges faced by communities. The act of planting trees can effectively deal with such challenges. The importance of trees is incomparable. However, the urban tree cover is still, unfortunately, declining globally, every year.
1. Fights climate change
As mentioned earlier, trees play a significant role in contributing to the fight against climate change. With the increase in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the amount of heat getting captured and trapped inside the earth is tremendous, hence causing the temperatures on earth to increase gradually to dangerous levels.
Planting and maintaining the growth of more trees is a procedure that will absorb more amount of carbon dioxide, which means that there will be a steady decline in the toxic gas in the air. Planting of more trees will, therefore, be hugely helpful in storing away carbon dioxide and releasing a higher amount of pure oxygen back into the air. According to one study, one acre of fully grown trees can absorb almost the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be produced by a car when driven for 26,000 miles in a year!
2. Results in ecosystem services
Programs based on planting and maintaining more trees can provide us with a high return in investment as a direct result of the various ecosystem services. The number of trees and greenery in the surrounding cities and towns and even the suburbs of multiple cities can lead to a reduction in runoff stormwater. It will also facilitate in reducing water and air pollution o a great extent. Planting of trees also contributes to the economy by reducing the costs of energy use and consumption that is associated with the cooling and heating machines, and it can help in protecting the roadways. Thereby reducing the use of asphalt can help reduce sound pollution by blocking the movement of sound.
3. Uses up carbon
Planting of trees can also help us by being a valuable storage space for carbon as well as for its sequestration. Lastly, trees can also act as a source of food for the growing urban population.
4. Economic growth
Trees are of great importance to society because they have the potential to stimulate growth in a local economy. Research has shown that we have trees in surroundings that are bred well and allowed to grow properly, and then it will push the people to spend extra time at the business region, and then they will tend to travel more to visit the place. Centers for shopping that are surrounded by greenery tend to become a hot and attractive spot for the people as they tend to be comfier, and are cleaner, friendlier, and have products of a much better quality when compared to areas with lesser trees.
Moreover, planting and maintaining trees along with the busy and crowded cities and towns increases the value of the house and commercial spaces, thus pushing up the rents, increasing the selling price of the house, thus making the house available in the market for a smaller period.
How trees impact our daily life?
Trees are significant to our daily lives in a variety of ways. Having trees around the places we live as well as in the places we work can have a significant impact on our mental and physical well-being.
- A large proportion of green spaces around a person can help in enhancing the attention, memory power, introspective power as well as the strength of focus one can hold.
- A huge way in which trees can impact one’s mental health is by providing greater satisfaction from every-day life by obtaining more positive thoughts and emotions.
- The presence of trees can cause a considerable reduction in stress also or on the other hand, and it may give one an increased aptitude to get a speedy recovery from stress-related problems such as anxiety, depression, etc.
The presence of trees around an urban population not only has a positive and more significant impact on adults, but it also affects the mental and physical life of Children, including students and adolescents.
They Tend To Greatly Benefit From Occurrence Of Trees, Such As The Following:
- Trees can have a positive effect on the life of a child by reducing the different symptoms of various attention deficit disorders as it helps in increasing attention and increases attention.
- The presence of more trees around an individual helps in gradually increasing the involvement of the child in the classroom. This enhances the child’s social and interpersonal skills, thus nurturing a positive environment in the school. This leads to the development of an individual with a good amount of self-esteem and positive mental health.
- The presence of trees around children reflects in the improved test results in various subjects such as those of mathematics and reading. The skills that are needed to excel in these subjects include concentration, reasoning, perception, and many more, all of which can be increased with the help of trees.
- Trees can greatly help in improving the temper of teenagers or transforming his or her mood from a negative or neutral to a positive one. This means that greener spaces around one can help in decreasing the negative emotions that one has, and this, in turn, helps in lowering his or her feelings of anger, depression, and all those that follow in the vicious circle.
- The presence of more trees around an individual will motivate him or her to gradually and speedily Increase the level of self-discipline one has, as well as the skill of impulse the inhibition and attentiveness in young boys and girls. This caters to the growth of a positive individual with high self-esteem with enhanced adjustment skills up their sleeves.
- The presence of trees around an individual also helps in developing and maintaining better physical health.
Some more importance of trees
Check out some more reasons that reflect the importance of trees:
1. Saves water
Trees help in saving water to a great extent. Trees play a vital role in the environment. The trees and forests in the world are known as the lungs of the earth not only because they absorb and store carbon dioxide and give out fresh and pure oxygen for us to inhale and live, but also because they help us in creating the perfect balance in the water cycle. Trees give out water vapor into the atmosphere, making the air less hot. They allow the water to evaporate into the air that slowly cools down the air in the surrounding, also adding to the moisture.
2. Prevent soil erosion
Trees play a critical role in preventing soil erosion. The absence of trees to hold the topsoil of the earth together is probably the primary reason behind the increasing number of soil erosion and landslides across the world. The strong roots of the trees hold the soil together and prevent this deadly phenomenon from occurring.
3. Works as our shield
Trees are a great form of shield for us. They create a thick belt around the earth above our heads and protect us from the harmful rays of the sun. The highly toxic and dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun get blocked out of the atmosphere we come in contact with, thus protecting us from falling prey to diseases like skin cancer.
4. Source of food
Trees are one of the best sources of food. We can obtain food in its best and most natural form from trees. From fruits of every kind or leaves and seeds, not only humans but animals also get their range of foods from the trees. Without trees, the survival of many living beings would have become questionable.
5. Power to heal
The importance of trees include the healing powers it offers us. Recent studies by famous scientists have shown that children that have ADHD show fewer symptoms when they are in close and direct contact with nature. More exposure to trees and greenery increases concentration and also reduces the amount of mental fatigue one faces.
6. Homes species and animals
Trees are home to a wide range of wild species and animals across the world. Trees are the perfect barrier between these wild species and the human world, thus keeping them safe and secure.
7. Offers safety
Trees can make you feel safe and provide you with a sense of community and togetherness. They evoke love and one-ness in the hearts of the people and encourage them to join hands with different people and to work towards a better world. A fun fact about growing more trees is that more trees mean a reduction in the crime rates in that area. A greener view in the world helps the people to reduce their levels of aggression, thus promoting a stronger interpersonal bond with the people around you. Trees do an excellent job of keeping the air clean and maintaining this quality of inhaled air.
Final thoughts
The different importance of trees are reasons enough to protect trees and to do everything humanly possible to control the reduction and deduction of trees. The lungs of the earth are essential for the well being of the entire world, so why don’t you take the initiative and begin at home?
