B
14

I read a thing about how much carbon a single mature tree can actually pull from the air

I was looking at a local park's website for trail maps and they had a section on their tree planting program. It said a single mature oak tree can absorb about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. That number really got me. I always thought of trees as good for the air, but I had no idea it was that much per tree. It made me look at the big old maple in my backyard completely differently. I started doing the math in my head about how many trees would be needed to offset just my car's emissions, and it's a lot. It's a simple fact, but it made the whole idea of carbon sinks feel way more real and less abstract. Has anyone else come across a specific stat like that which made the climate problem feel more concrete?
3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
3 Comments
joel_martinez
Totally, my friend had that same moment but with food waste. He saw a stat that throwing out one burger wastes like 600 gallons of water, all the way back from growing the wheat for the bun. He just stared at his trash can for a solid minute. It's like what young.kim said, seeing the chart makes it click. Now he gets weirdly into saving leftovers.
8
val_williams
Wow, that number really puts it in perspective.
-1
young.kim
young.kim3d ago
Yeah, I saw a chart about that the other day.
1