What stood out to me most when reading about wood was how trees record time and the rate at which deforestation is occurring.
Trees record time through growth rings. These rings can tell us the tree’s age as well as the climate and certain conditions. Trees preserve information about the surrounding environment. Drought, fires, and weather of the past can be seen by looking at trees. You can also tell if there were organisms, such as birds were present or left based on markings and holes. Since trees can last for even thousands of years, they connect us not only to the past, but the future as well, as long as they’re still standing.
However, trees are disappearing at an alarming rate. Forests took millions of years to be assembled through trial and error. It has taken far less time for humans to destroy them. Trees are needed for habitats, food, shelter, removing carbon dioxide from the air and replacing it with oxygen, holding soil in place, creating shade, and reducing noise. From an economical standpoint trees remove pollutants, reduce storm water damage, increase home values, and cool buildings in the summer. Although trees are extremely beneficial to the environment and people, twenty million acres of woodland are lost every year due to deforestation. The number of trees we remove each year could easily be reduced if we used more reusable items along with other methods, but we do nothing about this. People aren’t as aware as they should be and aren’t doing anything about it. The economic impact of becoming more green is too scary for anyone to make big strides, but we are running out of time to fix our wats before the effects are irreversible.
