MY ADVOCACY

Sometime ago, say 10 years, we even could not understand the meaning of terms like, global warming, climate change, carbon emission, carbon footprints and god knows how many others words, we ever heard, but the situations is that now we should know the meaning of each and every word at least for the sake of enlarging our knowledge. These words are very important words, explaining about the current horrifying situation being faced by our mother earth on the parlance of global warming and its damages to her. Our unawareness of the above words is the subject for the past, as it is now a ground reality that the industrialization, globalization, modernization made our mother earth wept.

The role of trees in counters the emissions. Trees are green machines that act as natural filters of our air. Through the process of photosynthesis (a word which we learned in our primary classes, which we have to remember) they absorb carbon dioxide (a key GHG and principle contributor to global warming) from the atmosphere and store it in their trunks, branches, leaves, roots, soil and foliage, while releasing oxygen back out. Whereas deforestation, degradation and poor forest management reduce carbon storage in forests, sustainable management, planting, and rehabilitation of forests can increase carbon sequestration. In fact the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization states global carbon retention resulting from reduced deforestation, increased forest re-growth and more agro-forestry and plantations could make up for about 15% of carbon emissions from fossil fuels over the next 50 years.

Plant as much as trees. Trees are not only an effective means for absorbing and storing the carbon we emit, they have far reaching benefits that extend well beyond that of filtering the air. Sustainably managed forests and urban forestry have multiple environmental and socio-economic functions important at the global, national and local scales, and play a vital part in sustainable development. Forests are sources of wood products. They help regulate local and regional rainfall. And forests are crucial sources of food, medicine, clean drinking water, and immense recreational, visual, and spiritual benefits for millions of people. This is the time for everyone to think, think about planting trees, you will be surprised to know, a large tree will absorb approximately 20.3 kgs of carbon dioxide per annum and figures are based on a 40 year life span of the tree. Through every day, living beings, cause carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere through the use of fossil fuels, by heating and lighting our home and cooking etc. To compensate the emissions, trees are a good counterbalance as they inhale or absorb carbon dioxide and exhale or emit oxygen. Of course, the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed varies between trees and the environment, which they are in but on average a large tree will absorb approximately 20.3 kgs per year over a 40 year of its lifespan.