Today it is already clear that global climate change poses a rather serious threat not only to different ecosystems, but also to our species. After all, prolonged torrential rains following droughts and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes are definitely not comfortable, even in places where they have not occurred before.
Therefore, it is only understandable that people are trying to reverse the consequences of this process, or at least mitigate them. Unfortunately, there is little that an ordinary person can do. That\’s why they catch virtually all the blades. And 1 of them is the promotion of afforestation, which is now quite widespread activity. But the question is whether it really helps.
First you need to know what people expect from it. The tree is seen as a large producer of oxygen and is primarily a collector of carbon dioxide from the air. Thanks to this, they should help reduce their amount. In addition, they also help to lower the temperature and retain water, which is very important during the dry season. All this is true, but there is also “but”. The situation is not as black and white as it looks.
First, there is the fact that the tree actually produces oxygen and reduces carbon dioxide, but this effect is not as great as it looks. Photosynthesis works only when the sun is shining. At night, the process is reversed, that is, the tree absorbs oxygen and produces carbon dioxide. And given the ratio of the total volume of the tree with the green part and chlorophyll, the whole process is practically leveled – simply put, what the tree produces during the day.、
As for lowering the temperature, it is, under the tree it is certainly cold. Thanks to the process of evaporation, water evaporates from the leaves and the air cools, so our sweating works on a similar principle. However, this effect is actually very local, basically only under a certain tree, which is definitely comfortable, but does not affect the overall temperature much.
As for water retention, yes, it works very well in this regard, especially in sloping countries. But with flat things, swamps and flooded areas are much better. They can hold much more water.
Therefore, it turns out that even planting a tree is not as great a solution as it looks. But the truth is that it\’s better than nothing.