Student reporter Riley Grant
Did you know that trees are alive too? They aren’t just for decorating your house or providing shade for you on a hot day. Trees are living, breathing organisms that are a vital part of our environment. Sadly, many people don’t recognize this, and as a result, trees are being destroyed at an alarming rate. It’s time we start valuing trees more and doing everything we can to protect them. After all without them are lives would be a lot harder.
In November 2021 Lynn Cecchini and a few classes decided to plant a tree on the school property thanks to the donor Patrick Kuan. During second block the classes got together and dug a hole for the tree, after Cecchini realized that a lot of the trees around the school were dying, she decided to take action and water trees around the school with some other teachers.
After I asked Cecchini what she thought would happen to the trees of climate change is not stopped she said “I’m pretty concerned about trees in our area right now because I have been watching them for the last 4 or 5 years, and I can see that the longer hotter summers are taking a toll on are trees, I first noticed it with the hemlock trees all in our area here that the branches turned brow and dried up and whole trees just died”
As trees grow, they help fight climate change by taking carbon dioxide in the air keeping it in the tree and soil and then releasing oxygen back into the air. Also the trees are amazing habitats for wildlife as they depend on the trees to survive as they provide food, shelter, places to nest and reproduce.
Even dying trees help the forest (snags), birds, small animals, and other wildlife use snags for nests, storage areas, foraging and perching. Snags occurring along streams and shorelines might fall into the water, adding important wood debris to the ocean habitat. Snags that are more decayed may have larger cavities for shelter and nesting. Snags enhance local natural areas by attracting wildlife species that may not otherwise be found there.
Cites:
https://www.arborday.org/trees/climatechange/