Trees are an important part of the climate crisis picture.

As trees grow, (click here) they help stop climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Trees provide many benefits to us, every day. They offer cooling shade, block cold winter winds, attract birds and wildlife, purify our air, prevent soil erosion, clean our water, and add grace and beauty to our homes and communities.

I am sure this graph is familiar to many. It is the decades measurements conducted by Mauna Loa Laboratories of the amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

I am not going to get into the particulars of the mission of Mauna Loa, but, rather to the saw tooth pattern of the graph. In the lower right corner is the "Annual Cycle."

That word annual is very important. At the top of this entry is an illustration of Earth noting the Equator and north and south hemispheres. The annual cycle of the Mauna Loa graph is the result of the transit of the sun and the seasonal changes in the northern hemisphere. So, when one thinks of land based carbon sinks, of course there is the much beloved South American Amazon Rainforest and some of the same forests in Africa, but, primarily the fluctuation is because of the northern hemisphere.

Kindly realize how much the northern hemisphere plays in mitigating carbon dioxide in the troposphere. The biomass of chlorophyll is enormous in the northern hemisphere. When Arbor Day comes around it is a very good idea to celebrate it and plant trees. 

The northern hemisphere is as much or more of a carbon sink. The land mass in the northern hemisphere far exceeds that of the southern hemisphere. It is because of plate movement in the oceans. 

Hugging trees is important, but, conserving our forests is just as important and ending damage to the rainforests and ending palm tree plantations.