Annually on the 28th of July Australia celebrates “National Tree Day”, where communities come together to get their hands dirty planting trees and restoring native vegetation at sites as diverse as schools, farms, parks and beaches. It is a small - but important - step to tackle climate change. In addition, these projects provide young people and communities with educational knowledge regarding our environment such as trees provide us with oxygen, improve air quality, climate improvement, conserving water, preserving soil and supporting all our precious wildlife. During the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe.
Hopefully that date is just a reminder of the importance of trees and represents that trees are planted on a large scale more than once a year. Even more relevant as Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth.
The impact of ongoing deforestation in Australia on the environment and ecosystems includes loss of biodiversity, a changing climate with less rain, heatwaves and drought resulting in decline of soil fertility. Almost 40 percent of the forests are lost and some of the remaining forests are fragmented - sadly the deforestation continues in the name of profit.
The forgotten fact: Trees make rain and forest floors store water!
In an Australian city along the East Coast the water most likely comes from surface water such as streams, rivers and reservoirs filled by rainfall and runoff, where as in Perth/Western Australia about 40% of water comes from groundwater. In other parts of Australia surface water stored in reservoirs is the main source of water supply, only a much smaller share comes from groundwater - but all storage methods are, at the end of the day, vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall. Available freshwater resources are expected to decline with changes to rainfall patterns accompanying global Climate Change. As our population grows, so does the pressure on water use. And as Climate Change takes hold, so will droughts become longer and more extreme. The damaging effects of water pollution created through mining, farming, fracking, runoff from industry and so on into our waterways and groundwater is seldom taken into account here.
Remember: Trees ‘make’ rain and forest floors store water (see our Reference links for more information). One of the simple solutions that everyone can participate in is planting trees. Each part of the tree contributes to climate control, from leaves to roots, in three primary ways: they lower temperatures, reduce energy usage and reduce or remove air pollutants.
Whether you plant trees around your home and property, in your community, nature reserves or in our national forests, they do help fight Climate Change.
As you can see, trees are beneficial to tackle Climate Change and an important part of keeping our environment healthy in many ways. Their contribution doesn’t stop here.
Trees truly "green" our planet in a countless number of ways.
Why not plant one today?
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Watch this YouTube video please...
Thejuicemedia, published on 24 Jul 2019 - The Australien and Victorien Governments have made an ad about destroying 600 year old trees to build a highway, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative!
Honest Government Ad | Djab Wurrung Trees
REFERENCE
Enviroblog, Feb 2019 (viewed 29.07.2019)
Enviroblog, Dec 2017 (viewed 29.07.2019)
Enviroblog, Dec 2018 (viewed 29.07.2019)