Jane Buchanan

Because it’s not too late to save the world’s forests 

Lately, for a book project, I’ve been interviewing climate scientists, forest ecologists, and arborists about the urgent threat to the world’s trees caused by a warming planet.

They are scared. They are sad. But they cling to the hope that it’s not too late to save the world’s forests, and perhaps even expand them.

It’s a delicate web that makes up life on Earth. At the center of that web are the trees that breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. But we humans are making more and more carbon dioxide and drastically reducing the number of trees available, leaving them unable to keep up with our CO2 output.

Forests are essential to life on Earth. Without them, without trees, there would be no humans. It’s as simple as that. And yet, as one arborist told me, “If trees gave us Wi-Fi, we’d be planting them like crazy. Instead, they give us the majority of the oxygen we breathe.”

This election comes at a critical time for slowing the destruction of our planet. We see it now daily in the more powerful hurricanes, floods, and out-of-control wildfires. This is the planet our children and grandchildren will inherit. It is our obligation to give them hope for a future with breathable air and drinkable water, a planet where plants and animals—including humans—can survive and thrive.

In her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris described clean air, clean water, and living without pollution as among the fundamental freedoms at stake in this election.

Electing Harris will protect another freedom that is at stake in this election—our freedom to hope.

Jane Buchanan is a writer, mother, and grandmother who believes trees are hope. Plant one!