World Environment Day

Photo credit: Davey.com

Trees, forests and any green space provides us with a serene and calm sensation! However, on this World Environment Day, we are ought to look deeper into the "overlooked" benefits of trees!

Trees play a crucial role against battling climate change! By sucking CO2 (carbon dioxide) and storing carbon, forests can help in improving air quality as well as in alleviating global warming. In this process, leaves absorb other air pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide and thus giving off oxygen. Trees also have a windbreak-effect because they can amend wind speed and direction.

Forests also regulate water from many of the world's rivers and help in securing its quality. In fact, roots embedded in the soil can absorb harmful chemicals and thus as forests decrease, water quality declines as well. Natural hazards such as floods, storms, landslides and soil erosion have larger impacts with the decline in trees and forests as well.

Moreover, temperature in tree shades is cooler than that away from trees. The larger the tree, the greater the cooling effect and the water vapor release. By using trees in the cities such as Beirut, we are able to moderate the heat effect caused by pavement and buildings.

Trees are shelter for many species such as apes, birds, bees and squirrels thus helping to preserve biodiversity! And last but not least, forests provide many important natural resources, such as timber, fuel, charcoal, rubber, paper and medicinal plants. 

So what about planting a fruit tree on this day? Check out how to plant a tree and how to take care of it and this way you will increase trees in Lebanon, build eco-friendly/more natural/less artificial urban neighborhoods, increase eye catchy and calming scenery, all while providing yourself with fresh fruit -that I cannot but say provide you with fibers, water and lots of vitamins and minerals - for years to come!

Sources: treepeople.org and UN Environment Program