From Four Degrees to 245 Million Plantings: Trees in Numbers
How old is the most ancient tree in the world and how long can it live, how many trees are destroyed every year by fires in Israel, what is being done to prevent this and how much polluted air is purified by one tree over a year? Everything you didn’t know about what trees are capable of doing.
Ynet, in cooperation with KKL-JNF
June 7, 2018
We get up in the morning, look out the window and see trees growing, here and there some colorful flowers, the scent of the earth and the sounds of the leaves rustling. It seems almost trivial to us to be surrounded by nature, we’re used to it, whether we live in the city or in a rural region. However, trees play an important part in nature and protecting our environment. Here are some numbers that prove that trees are not just for.
4
Four degrees is the difference between a street without trees that is full of summer sun and a street with a boulevard of trees. That’s right, a tree is not just for shade, in the summer it also takes down the temperature around it up to four entire degrees. Doesn’t seem like enough? Wait for August and see how grateful you’ll be to the trees around you.
20,000
Everything has a price, right? It turns out that trees do also, and what a price that is! A senior tree whose circumference is a half a meter is estimated to be worth IS 20,000. And before you get any unsavory ideas, remember that uprooting a tree is a felony, even if it’s in your own backyard. In order to cut it down, you need a special permit from the regional tree supervisor.
100,000
100,000 cubic meters of polluted air are cleaned by just one tree! It also produces 700 kilograms of oxygen along with absorbing 20 tons of carbon dioxide. In fact, part of the air that we breathe is produced by plants. Without trees and plants, we wouldn’t be able to breathe. It’s no exaggeration to say that trees are life.
246,000,000
Two hundred and forty-six million. That’s the number of trees that was planted by KKL-JNF in the land of Israel during the 118 years of its existence.
4,800
Trees live forever. That’s right – a healthy tree can live forever. The oldest tree in the world is in California, and it’s more than 4,800 years old. It should only live and be well. And by the way, the root systems of old trees can be a mitigating factor when an earthquake takes place.
1,000
During the hot summer months, the date palms planted in the Megilot Yam Hamelah region get one cubic meter of water daily. That means that each tree receives no less than 1000 liters of water. The date tree plantations are watered by purified sewage water in order to save drinking water and in order to recycle, which saves a lot of money.
240
There are three natural aquifers in Israel that supply water to its citizens: Lake Kinneret, the mountain aquifer and the coastal aquifer. KKL-JNF has built about 240 water reservoirs throughout the country, from the Galilee to the Negev. Some of these reservoirs harvest floodwaters and some collect purified sewage water and recycle it for agricultural use. These reservoirs supply about one third of the water needed for agriculture in Israel.
600
It’s hard to believe and it’s also quite distressing, but every year about 600 forest fires break out in Israel. The general public doesn’t hear about most of these fires, because a special firefighting network puts them out before they can do any real damage. The network includes, among others, observation towers that are manned in the summer by fire spotters who immediately report any smoke they see in the forest. Even do, in spite of all the efforts, fires destroy an average of about 2,000 acres a year, in other words, about 50,000 trees.
9,500
9,500 acres is the area of Yatir Forest, the largest planted forest in Israel. It’s quite surprising that the largest forest in Israel is planted in a semi-arid region, an area where it’s especially difficult to grow a forest. And Yatir Forest has more important news for us: according to surveys conducted in the forest, it was discovered that the desert forest is responsible for a similar amount of greenhouse gasses sequestration as average forests in Europe. There are huge amounts of territory in the world with climates similar to that of Yatir Forest. Desert afforestation in these regions could make a significant contribution to lessening global warming.