Hello from New England
On a short vacation, my wife and I just drove past the Bush’s gorgeous and heavily guarded estate in Kennebunkport, ME.
The terrific colors of the autumn foliage are just starting to happen; climate change has pushed this event a few weeks later in the year from where it was when I was a boy.
Speaking of climate change, here’s a fabulous video of the role that forests play in sequestering CO2 (if only for a few decades while the trees are alive). As I pointed out to my wife, a few decades is a long time in the development of clean tech that will, one day, make a huge reduction in the concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, potentially saving our civilization from catastrophe.
Of course, planting large numbers of trees starts with the recognition of the problem and the decision to do something about it. This coming together and making a commitment to cooperate across “tribes” is unprecedented in human history. It will require dedication, compassion and sacrifice, ingredients that are in woefully short supply in 21st Century society.
I agree with you, The first step is to realize that it’s an issue. If not, we won’t do anything about it.
Craig,
The American poet Joyce Kilmer wrote the opening line of his poem, ‘Trees’.
“I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree”.
I remember reading the poem at school, but sadly in the intervening 45 years since the author penned his sentiments, his style and message had become a example of “bad poetry” by a more cynical audience.
Craig, we obviously share a common love of trees. Tress certainly sequestrate carbon, although not as much as enthusiasts believe, but it doesn’t really matter as they certainly add to the quality of human existence.
Around the world, trees in park-lands, temperate forests,rain forests etc have been wantonly decimated by often needless human activity. Even when “rehabilitation” takes place it’s in the form of poor imitation and usually some form of mono-culture.
The real problem of recreating forests is they take a long time to grow and require a lot of land and resources.
On the wall on my Melbourne Australia office, hangs an early photo of a group of early Australians proudly stand around admiring the handiwork of a local farmer,Bill Cornthwaite who in 1884 decided to cut down Australia’s, and probably the world’s, largest tree.
This mighty mountain ash had been standing for more than 500 year until ol’Bill took it into his head he needed a bit of ax practice.
The now dead tree was solemnly measured and verified by bill’s brother George, a government surveyor. The tree had measured over 395 feet high and was still growing.
Ol’ Bill, George and their mates had the moment of their pride photographed for posterity, little realizing their achievement would be regarded with approbation as an act of wanton vandalism 120 years later.
Fortunately, one of these magnificent hardwood trees, still survives in a nearby protected forest. The ‘Alda’ is 300 years old, 237 feet tall with a girth of over 50 feet, it roots spread over more than one acre.
In the UK, my family have preserved a number of ancient Beech, Chestnut, Maple, Oak and othe trees from all over the world in a small parkland. trees. Two of the Beech were brought back from America by loyalists after the revolutionary, one had been sapling growing in the White House garden in 1812 and was taken as a “prize of war”.
(I have some damn’d odd ancestors, when everyone else brought back valuable loot from the British campaign in China 1856 to 1860, mine arrived back with various plants and a pair of small dogs with pushed in faces (Pekinese)!)
It hasn’t always been easy to protect these trees from determined bureaucrats over the centuries with demand for timber in wars or reconstruction. But fortunately, sense prevailed and 60 or so of these living treasures still remain.