Climate change continues to impact our planet, creating a chain reaction of unfortunate scenarios that reaches into every corner of the globe—including our front yards. Human activity, including deforestation, is a main contributor.
The good news is there are many interconnected ways ways to address our warming climate and trees are a key solution. They are natural, affordable, accessible, and available now to meet global emissions reduction targets necessary by 2030 to stabilize the climate. But we have to start today.
How we feel climate change
While we all share one world, the effects of climate change can oftentimes feel difficult to grasp. The impacts of this global challenge can look different depending on where you live.
Heat waves
Climate change is ushering in a new normal when it comes to summertime. Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than all other natural disasters combined.
Severe weather
Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and droughts. Severe weather arrives in many forms and climate change is making them all more extreme.
Wildfires
Climate change is creating longer wildfire seasons that burn hotter and create more damage than in the past.
Food supply
More extreme weather patterns — especially droughts — put a strain on livelihoods and the global food supply.
Species extinction
As deforestation rates increase globally every year, it puts a life-threatening strain on many of our planet’s species. Eighty percent of all life on land lives in forests.
How trees fight climate change
The science behind trees
If the environment is our planet’s body, trees are a vital organ, helping to produce conditions ripe for life. They pull carbon from the air, cleaning the air while producing the oxygen we ultimately breathe. They also “sweat” the water they draw from their roots though their leaves to put water back into the atmosphere. This water vapor then rises and gathers together to form clouds, rain, and snow.
The role of trees vs. climate change
Trees offer profound layers of benefit to our world, first and foremost as a leading solution to slowing climate change. By capturing carbon and reducing global temperatures, forests around the world have the ability to contribute a third of the emissions reductions necessary to meet global warming targets by 2030.
Key forests on the frontlines
At the Arbor Day Foundation, we know reforestation efforts in certain global regions can have a larger impact on the planet’s climate. These forests house the world’s most diverse ecosystems critical to many of our planet’s species while also acting as key drivers to regulating our global temperatures. It’s why we’re dedicating more of our energy in regions that can drive planet-shaping impact.
We all have a role to play
Whether you’re a corporation working to do good and reach environmental goals or an individual who envisions a better world, it is up to all of us to come together and stand up for tomorrow.
How to support our mission
Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit dedicated to planting trees. Our strength is in network — a diverse group of individuals, municipalities, corporations, and planting organizations that enable us to plant trees around the world.
Strengthening communities
Learn why trees in cities and towns are vital to help ensure communities thrive.