What about trees?

One of our favourite things on earth are trees. Trees make the world beautiful and diverse, from the great elms of Winnipeg to the towering redwoods of B. C., they define our landscape and in some ways who we are. Trees are not only great for our mental health, they increase property values with increased privacy and beauty, they decrease heating and cooling costs and noise. They are all around useful creatures. It’s wondrous the way a tree cleans our air, produces the oxygen we breathe, stores carbons, filters water, and regulates moisture in our environment. Not only that, but trees provide shade and shelter for wildlife. Here’s some fun facts we have found about trees, and it sounds like planting some trees this spring or fall is not such a bad idea! For great tips on tree planting, check out www.treecanada.ca/publications/guide.htm.

All around amazing facts...

Trees are the longest living organisms on earth. Unlike other investments that depreciate, a tree's value increases with each passing year. Trees increase home property values 7 to 21 percent, depending on the number and size of the trees. The world's tallest tree is a coast redwood in California, measuring more than 360 ft or 110 m. The world's oldest trees are 4,600 years old Bristlecone pines in the USA.

Environmental facts

One tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four! One acre of trees removes up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide each year. That means that one tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles. The average American uses about 750 pounds of paper every year, and 600 board feet of timber per year. That means each person uses the equivalent of one 100 foot tall, 16 inch diameter, tree every year for their paper and wood product needs.

Urban Tree Facts

The average tree in a metropolitan area survives an average of 8 years! Each urban tree with a 50-year lifespan provides an estimated $273 a year in reduced costs for air conditioning, erosion control, water filtration, stormwater control, air pollution, and wildlife shelter.

Sources:
www.treesaregood.com
www.savatree.com

Wondrous Science Facts

To carry the great amounts of water needed to the leaves, a tree is equipped with a circulation system of amazing intricacy that extends from the millions of root hairs through the trunks and the branches to the hundreds of thousands of leaves. In the case of the Giant Sequoia of California, this means that some of the water collected by the roots must travel a distance of nearly 450 feet to get to the highest leaves of the tallest trees. This seems to contradict a basic law of physics. To raise water that high requires a pressure of about 420 pounds per square inch. However, atmospheric pressure at sea level is only about 15 pounds to the square inch, and this limits the height that a suction pump can raise water to a mere 33 feet. Not only does the tree attain the tremendous pressure required, but it does so with a speed of flow so great that in certain trees water rises at the speed of almost 150 feet an hour." (from "The Forest" by Peter Farb and the Editors of Time-Life Books, Time-Life Books, 1961)

So plant a tree this year or save one, you may be a treehugger after all!