Category: trees

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Ireland Plans on Planting 440 Million Trees to Help Fight Climate Change

Climate change is altering the world. Some of these changes we can anticipate, but others we are learning about in real time. And even though everyone who’s examined the evidence knows that climate change is occurring and that it is bad, some nations are sitting idly by and acting like their hands are tied.

Others are fighting for the future.

That is exactly what the country of Ireland is trying to do. Over the next 22 years, Ireland has committed to planting 22 million trees each year, totaling to 440 million trees by the year 2040.

Many believe that “revegetating” the natural environment can help to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The tree-planting initiative is part of the Irish government’s overall plan to combat climate change, which involves getting to carbon neutral by 2050.

The plan calls for farmers to plant trees, and they will be incentivized for doing so. It’s a bit tricky: some argue that farmers should not be required to plant trees on their own land because it will take away property from their economic crops and cattle. Others have suggested that farmers let land revegetate on its own, so forests can develop naturally.

While there would be greater species diversity if a forest naturally revegetated, it would also take longer for trees to mature that way.

It’s estimated that there are about 3 trillion trees on Earth and that roughly 15 billion are cut down every year by humans.

The action plan from the Irish government says:

“Taking decisive action to confront climate disruption will be a major challenge to every dimension of our society, but the benefits are huge – warmer homes, cleaner air, a sustainable use of the world’s scarce resources, more connected communities, authentic values, and quality jobs in enterprises which can compete in a decarbonised world. This is everyone’s journey. From Government to businesses, communities to householders, climate action is collective action. The Climate Action Plan sets out the Government agenda; see what you can do to play your part.”

If Ireland can do it, it seems like the United States could manage the same, don’t you think?

The post Ireland Plans on Planting 440 Million Trees to Help Fight Climate Change appeared first on UberFacts.

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These 30 Kids Are Really Bad at Hide-And-Seek

Not everybody can be a natural at hide-and-seek. For some, it takes practice.

In homage to all of those people, here are 30 kids who are still learning the ropes of the game:

#30. This one’s pretty impressive, but also a poor spot.

Photo Credit: Jackie Blackshear

#29. A blindingly bad idea.

Photo Credit: imgur

#28. So much wrong going on.

Photo Credit: greecedlightnin

#27. Sometimes, you gotta bag it up.

Photo Credit: Stephlynn3

#26. Points for attempted camo.

Photo Credit: octbar

I had a hard time deciding how to rank? Cutest? Worst? Funniest.

I’m still not sure how I decided to rank them, but I know they’re all f’n awesome.

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The Philippines Passed a New Law Requiring Students to Plant at Least 10 Trees to Graduate

Our planet is facing an undeniable crisis thanks to massive deforestation around the globe. The one stroke of good fortune, however, is that more and more governments are gradually starting to take it seriously.

Recently, the Philippines took one major step towards that goal by getting their students more involved with the planet. A new law will require all students to plant at least 10 trees before they can graduate from high school and college.

Planting trees upon graduation is already a tradition in the Philippines, but, thanks to this new law, it will now be formally required. Billions of trees will be planted in a generation.

“With over 12 million students graduating from elementary and nearly five million students graduating from high school and almost 500,000 graduating from college each year, this initiative, if properly implemented, will ensure that at least 175 million new trees would be planted each year,” explained the Philippines’ Magdalo Party representative, Gary Alejano, the principal author of the legislation.

“In the course of one generation, no less than 525 billion can be planted under this initiative.”

The representative went on to explain that, even if only 10 percent of the trees actually survive to adulthood, that still adds up to 525 million new trees.

This is especially meaningful for the Philippines, which is one of the most severely deforested countries in the world.

The new trees will be planted in mangroves, existing forests, some protected areas, military ranges, abandoned mining sites, and selected urban areas. The trees must be well-suited to their planting location, and there will be a preference for native species.

Photo Credit: iStock

The government hopes that this initiative will not only improve the ecology of the country, but will also encourage young people to care more about the environment.

I, for one, would love to see a similar law on the book in every country around the world!

The post The Philippines Passed a New Law Requiring Students to Plant at Least 10 Trees to Graduate appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Tree That Was Arrested

There is a banyan tree that has been officially under arrest (and chained) for over 100 years. In 1898 an intoxicated British officer ordered the mess sergeant to arrest the tree as he thought that it was moving towards him. Since then, the tree has remained in chains.

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Trees in forests have an underground…

Trees in forests have an underground communication and interaction system driven by fungal networks. “Mother trees” pass on information for best growth patterns and can divert nutrients to trees in need, and they are more likely to pass them on to trees of their own species. 00