Fanbox for the Dummies

The Benefits of Trees

The benefits of trees are so overwhelming that the loss of them would ruin our lives and deal a death blow to this planet. Science clearly shows that our minds, relationships, health and economies are bettered by their presence, and their workload keeps our world on its feet.

We know that orchards- the most efficient and environmentally friendly producers of calories this world has ever known- are the best way to feed our population.

But I'd like to argue here that the there is no place that cannot be bettered by a tree planting. Whether it's a palm tree in Arizona or Saudi Arabia that provides shade to the world in defiance of the harsh desert, or a dwarf apple tree on a small quarter-acre plot in rainy New England, trees endlessly serve us.

Trees: They're Inside Your Head

Stand before a towering oak tree and its hard not to stare in wonder at the massive scale of it and its odd sinuous limbs. Trees have eked out a place in our mythologies, religions, and the fabric of our culture for good reason.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and of Evil, The MesoAmerican and Norse world trees, Christmas trees, the Gerichtslinde trees of Germany, and the Bodhi Tree of Budhism are just a few examples.

They also put the lauded works of man to shame with their staying power. The "big baobab" in Limpopo, South Africa has been carbon dated to be approximately 6,000 years old (1)(2).

This would push it back to the building of the Pyramids of Giza, and thousands of years before the birth of Christ. The pyramids are now crumbling, and 200 generations of man have come and gone, but still that baobab tree grows.

Woven so closely into our history and culture, its no wonder that their presence, or lack thereof, can affect us greatly.

You've probably been told that nature calms us, but did you know that a lack of trees can lead you to violence and and anti social behavior?

The Concrete Jungle Might Drive You Nuts