Environment Planet Earth 20 Reasons to Really Love Trees There are approximately 2 million reasons to love trees ... but we'll start with these. By Melissa Breyer Melissa Breyer Former Senior Editorial Director Hunter College F.I.T., State University of New York Cornell University Melissa Breyer is Treehugger’s former senior editorial director. Her writing and photography have been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic, Audubon Magazine, and elsewhere. Learn about our editorial process Updated April 26, 2023 thianchai sitthikongsak / Getty Images Planet Earth Outdoors Weather Conservation It’s probably no surprise that a site named Treehugger loves trees. But just to make sure it's clear: We love trees! And thus, Arbor Day, generally observed on the last Friday of April, holds a special place in our hearts. What could be better than a day dedicated to observing the importance of trees and, better yet, planting new ones? Arbor Day may be our favorite holiday. It’s funny because we often think about how vital it is to be good stewards of trees—but when we muse upon how critical they are for us, maybe we have it all wrong. What if it’s the trees who have been acting as good stewards of us all along? Arbor Day in the United States was officially designated in Nebraska in 1872—pioneers moving to the treeless plains realized they needed trees for things like fruit, windbreaks, fuel, building materials, and shade. Essentially, food and shelter and the necessities for survival. So who’s taking care of whom here? We need trees, but do trees need us? They need us not to cut them down indiscriminately, for sure, but really they seem to be doing the heavy lifting in this relationship. And so, with that in mind, here are just some of the many, many reasons why it’s imperative to respect and celebrate trees. Consider the following: 1. Trees Work Hard to Right Our Wrongs According to the U.S. Forest Service, trees around the world removed 2.4 billion tons of carbon and absorbed 8.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year between 1990 and 2007—equivalent to about one-third of fossil fuel emissions during the same period. 2. They Help Keep Our Houses Clean A study from Lancaster University found that trees by the road reduced the presence of airborne particulate matter (mostly from pollution from cars) inside nearby homes by 50 percent. 3. They Ease the Workday Office workers who can gaze upon trees from their windows report less stress and more satisfaction, according to a study from Chungbuk University, South Korea. 4. Trees Feed Us ... and Give Us Pie Trees provide food for people and wildlife beyond what we likely imagine. A single apple tree alone can produce up to 15 to 20 bushels of fruit per year. Apples, pie, important! 5. They Provide Shelter and Support Three hundred million people across the globe live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Forests also provide habitat for a mind-boggling array of plants and creatures, many of which we don't even know about. 6. They Show Us How to Age Gracefully An ancient bristlecone pine at Inyo National Forest. hlsnow / Getty Images Seriously, talk about respecting your elders. The world’s oldest tree is an ancient bristlecone pine named Methuselah that lives at 10,000 feet above sea level in the Inyo National Forest, California. Methuselah is as old as Stonehenge and older than the Egyptian pyramids. The World's 10 Oldest Living Trees 7. Trees Keep Cities Cool Trees lower urban temperatures by up to 10°F by shading and releasing water vapor into the air through their stress-soothing leaves. 8. They Are Giant Humidifiers In a single day, one large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air. 9. They Keep Buildings Comfortable Of course shade trees produce shade; a lot. Strategically placed trees can cut down air conditioning needs by 30 percent and can save up to 50 percent in energy required for heating. 10. Trees are Social Beings "They can count, learn and remember; nurse sick neighbors; warn each other of danger by sending electrical signals across a fungal network known as the 'Wood Wide Web' – and, for reasons unknown, keep the ancient stumps of long-felled companions alive for centuries by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots." That's not us being woo-woo, but a very poetic tree expert. 11. They Devour Carbon Dioxide We alluded to this before, but it bears repeating. Biology 101 tells us that trees absorb carbon dioxide, removing and storing the carbon while releasing the oxygen back into the air—but the amount is remarkable. In a single year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the amount of CO2 equivalent to a car driven 26,000 miles. 12. Likewise, They Give Us Breath Four people can get a day’s worth of oxygen from one large tree. 13. And Water In the United States, watersheds protected by forests provide water to more than 180 million people. 14. Trees Fight Crime A study by the University of Vermont and U.S. Forest Service found that in Baltimore alone, a 10 percent increase in tree canopy corresponded to a 12 percent drop in crime. 15. They Fight Grime In outdoor spaces with trees, there is less graffiti, vandalism, and littering in comparison to places without greenery, says a study from the University of Washington. 16. They Give Us Something to Look Up to, Literally Gerald Corsi / Getty Images The tallest living tree is a towering 379.1-foot coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in California's Redwood National Park in 2006. Called Hyperion, it miraculously survives on a hillside rather than the more-typical alluvial flat, with 96 percent of the surrounding area having been logged of its original coast redwood growth. What a magnificent thing to marvel at! 17. They Pay Us Back For each dollar spent on planting a tree in the city, they pay us back by up to five times in terms of cleaner air, lower energy costs, improved water quality and stormwater control, and increased property values. 18. They're Ersatz War Heroes Sure, we’ve long had a national anthem and bird—and we’ll always have apple pie and baseball—but what about a national tree? We got one in 2004, and it’s the oak. Oak trees have long been prized for their attributes as well as their place in U.S. history, from Abraham Lincoln’s use of the Salt River Ford Oak as a marker in crossing a river near Homer, Illinois, to Andrew Jackson taking shelter under Louisiana’s Sunnybrook Oaks on his way to the Battle of New Orleans, notes the Arbor Day Foundation. "In the annals of military history, 'Old Ironsides,' the USS Constitution, took its nickname from the strength of its live oak hull, famous for repelling British cannonballs." (See how well trees take care of us?!) 19. They Are Unassuming in Their Vastness There are more than 23,000 different kinds of trees in the world; altogether, there are three trillion trees on the planet. Yet they just humbly stand by, working hard and never making too much of a fuss. 20. Trees Keep Us Young and Healthy And when all else fails, there's this: Trees may keep us young—in our minds, at least. Researchers found that people who live on streets with high tree density are less likely to report a number of health complaints; specifically, trees improve health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 or being seven years younger. More About Trees Trees Talk to Each Other and Recognize Their Offspring What Trees Can Do for You 10 of the World’s Most Remarkable Trees To learn about Arbor Day, visit the Arbor Day Foundation.