Consider the last time you came out of your house and took a deep breath without even considering it. Breathing is automatic: inhaling, shortening of the lungs, relaxation of the body, focus of thoughts. The majority of the population believes that this is normal. The pollution of the cities makes it difficult to breathe for millions of people who live there.

The contrast of these two lives mainly lies in the number of trees surrounding us.

Highways, tall buildings and 24-hour shopping centers are among the amazing buildings in this century. The world is headed on the right path and we ought to take pride. But as we constructed all this we struck an unspoken agreement with each other: we traded green space to concrete. And even now we do not know how expensive that trade really was.

I make an attempt to breathe,

but the air is unnatural.

 A breath must have oxygen,

no more, no less.

The Real Thing about Losing 10 Billion Trees a Year.

Numbers can be difficult to touch, thus we will put it in real terms. Approximately, 41 to 42 million trees are lost every day. Others are cut to farmlands, others to new houses, others to make paper, furniture or fuel. Scientists who compare the number of trees being replenished with the number lost find that approximately 10 billion trees have been lost annually.

Imagine the good that one tree does to people around. Approximately 1.2kg of oxygen is produced by a big tree in a day. In a year, it produces about 118 kg. The average adult consumes approximately 550L of oxygen per day. Combining these numbers, a healthy tree is able to provide sufficient oxygen to up to four individuals per day.

The destruction of trees takes away more than wood, shade or beauty. It eliminates the clean air, a little of which our already polluted world cannot spare.

Delhi Is Not an Isolated Problem – It Is a Preview.

You can have an idea of dirty air, if you have ever been in Delhi during winter. A dense haze near the ground blurs Headlights to a fog. It also rubs the wrong side of the throat, and that is not helped by water. The Air Quality Index varies frequently to reach the so-called severe, i.e. the air is so hazardous that it will hurt to be outdoors.

The problem of Delhi is impressive, but not unique. Several urban centers in India as well as other places are drifting towards similar air issues as the parks vanish and the cars and factories produce more emissions. The solution discussed in government meetings and green conferences is the one which was heard long enough by an old country gentleman: plant more trees.

The positive thing is that there are trees that prosper in such harsh environments. They do not require ideal soil or pure air and they grow in the place which they are needed most.

The Indian streets and courtyards are centuries old with neem trees. They endure heat, protracted droughts and dusty ambiance. They require hardly anything and give much shade, clean air, and medicinally helpful leaves, helping communities over generations.

The banyan is a lifespan tree that is extremely hardy. A single banyan may live long enough to cover entire neighborhoods of a city with its canopy, and thus a banyan may well be considered a tree of life. Its roots are deep and do not give way.

Pine trees are not expected to grow like that; they are mostly viewed in mountains. They can withstand cold winters and filthy urban air quite well.

It is capable of thriving in poor soil and it can continue to thrive where other trees may not.

Eucalyptus is quick and does not require much. It does well on lands damaged by construction or factories- places where most trees are not likely to thrive.

It has been many years that poplar trees have silently purified air around roads and factories. They are quick growing, stabilize the soil and can endure hard urban life.

Certain trees keep on growing even when the air is poisoned.

The Carbon Story -Why Trees Are Climate Action You Can Do.

Discussion of climate change may be daunting. The large-scale issues such as warmer oceans, melting ice, and changing weather are making some people believe that whatever they do does not count. The fact is that trees are a modest, effective method of assistance of any person. They are among the most convenient means of common people, and they always were.

People and trees are in a natural symbiosis. We give up carbon dioxide and trees give us oxygen, trees give us what we give up. The growth of a tree removes large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and retains the carbon in the tree trunk, branches, and roots. Each year, a grown tree is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide (along with other small warming gases) in the atmosphere, of approximately 10 kilograms. In the course of several decades, that will be a significant contribution to the planet.

Trees have got cooling power. When the city is hot and it is a day of the week, the street with mature trees is much cooler than the empty road with concrete. The fact that it is cool implies that individuals consume less air-conditioning. Fewer air conditioners translate to fewer electricities. The use of less electricity also implies a reduced emission of power plants. All that can be triggered by one strategically placed tree without anyone paying attention.

When it is winter, trees do the converse. They prevent cold wind blowing against walls of buildings hence the heat inside remains in better condition. That assists in reducing heating expenses. With trees covering an entire city, it adds up the saved energy during the summer and the winter and it can add to something that an engineer and planner takes seriously.

Trees are not only removers of carbon. They assist cities in managing water. When precipitation hits a city with hard and sealed surfaces water flows into gutters at a rate that exceeds the capacity of the system to absorb it, resulting in floods. Trees decrease the speed of the rain, their roots absorb water and the soil allows it to pass through more naturally. A large tree is able to take up to 1,000 gallons of rainfall in a single year. That will save money on pumping, filtering and redirection of water.

Trees are also helpful in sustaining livelihoods and jobs. Forests and parks benefit farm labor, conservation, natural medicine and tourism. Communities that have healthy forests are more resourceful, they have better food and fewer issues related to climatic changes. When forests are taken away, it is not a loss of nature as well as a loss of money and lives.

Close to trees they are happier. Research indicates reduced stress, healthier minds and stronger community relationships in communities with an abundance of green. Children are playing differently, the aged spend more time on the street and streets are safer and friendlier. They are not necessarily ancillary good things, but they are essential components of a good life.

One Tree. One Person. One Decision.

Rules, money and big changes are commonly blamed as being the solution to environmental damage. Things like these are important, yet not all of them. Delaying them would be equivalent to giving the job away to other people.

Planting a tree is a simple, concrete action that does not require any special permission, large budget, and even special skills. A sapling, a bit of soil, and a couple of minutes of attention begin something which will exist long after you have. Today children will not judge this generation on the buildings that we made or the tech that we constructed, but on the world that we leave them. The small decisions we make now determine the air we breathe, the water we drink, the shade we sit under on a hot day and so on.

Planting trees does not have a sentimental side to it. It is a multi-generational pay-off. The advantages are extended to those who are not yet able to represent themselves. That is why perhaps it is the best gift we still can give.