Register

Peak Oil is You


Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)

Donate Bitcoin



Donate Paypal

Page added on April 16, 2018

Bookmark and Share

How Many Trees Do We Need?

How Many Trees Do We Need? thumbnail

“A city like New York (18.6 million people) should require 55.8 million trees to provide its oxygen.“

Is it possible that we could wreck the atmosphere enough that humans would suffocate for a lack of air to breathe? Probably not. Still, it’s not a chance worth taking.
Earth’s atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen and human activities add only very slightly to that, although now more than all the natural sources. 20.9 percent of what’s up there is the oxygen we need to breathe. Water is about 1 percent. The remainder — less than one percent — is all the other gases, including all the greenhouse gases.
Most people think we get our oxygen from trees, and this is true in part. Trees release oxygen when they make glucose from carbon dioxide and water — a net gain of one molecule of oxygen for every atom of carbon layered into a tree. Estimates vary on how many trees it takes to produce the oxygen required by one human, and one might expect that because the amount of oxygen produced by a tree depends on its species, age, health, and surroundings.
A human breathes about 9.5 metric tons of air in a year, but oxygen only makes up about 21 percent of that air and we only extract a little over a third of the oxygen from each breath. That works out to a total of about 740 kg of oxygen per year.
A 2-ton sycamore tree produces about 100 kg of oxygen per year. A 100-ft Northern Spruce, according to Northwest Territories Forest Management, 18″ diameter at its base, produces 6,000 pounds of oxygen (2,727 kg).
According to Environment Canada, the average tree produces 260 pounds of oxygen per year (118 kg). If we accept that as a good estimate, we each need about 6 mature trees to support ourselves.
A city like New York (18.6 million people) should require 112 million trees to provide its oxygen. It has those — in the Taconics, Adirondacks, Poconos, and Berkshires — although it shares them with Newark, Philadelphia, Hartford, Albany and others, so maybe not enough for everyone. Cities like Mexico City (21 million), Mumbai (21 million), Sao Paolo (21 million), Shanghai (24 million), Delhi (25 million) and Tokyo (38 million) are straight out of luck.
Fortunately for all of us, ocean phytoplankton and coastal mangroves also make oxygen. Not so fortunately, both of those sources are being destroyed by climate change and reckless development.
Are we in trouble? Not any time soon.
Free oxygen did not exist in the atmosphere until about 2.4 billion years ago during the Great Oxygenation Event, when oceanic cyanobacteria learned to produce oxygen by photosynthesis, setting off the greatest mass extinction in history. Say goodbye to all the happy anaerobes. They either went underground or died.
Over the next 2.4 billion years, cyanobacteria made a lot of oxygen. That said, we are not entirely out of the woods, so to speak. Most organisms have evolved to live in an environment that has a very specific set of conditions. We have come to rely on air containing about 21 percent oxygen.
That concentration has varied over time, with the normal equilibrium up to about 600 million years ago being about 15% but then rising and peaking at about 30% around 280 million years ago and gradually declining since. It has never been less than 20% in human evolutionary history. How low it can go before humans feel a need for some breathing space is anyone’s guess. By destroying all the natural sources — forests, corals, mangroves — while also polluting the atmosphere, we are putting a lot at risk.

 

That blue halo that colors the Earth in space is less about the color of our oceans than the scattering of light from the wavelengths of the gases in our atmosphere. As we destroy that balance, particularly the relative proportion of oxygen, we may just lose that halo. We could lose a lot more.

The Great Change by Albert Bates



88 Comments on "How Many Trees Do We Need?"

  1. john kelley on Wed, 18th Apr 2018 10:59 pm 

    Outcast,animals exhale Nitrogen ?

  2. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year on Thu, 12th Jun 2025 7:41 pm 

    SRy Im emotinal

  3. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year on Fri, 13th Jun 2025 12:51 pm 

    THANK YOU!!!

  4. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year on Fri, 13th Jun 2025 3:07 pm 

    UPPERtard you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk

  5. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Fri, 13th Jun 2025 3:08 pm 

    UPPERtard you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk and after sliced bread with ham and bacon and tomato

  6. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Sat, 14th Jun 2025 7:21 am 

    SRY IM emotional I just love cats UPPERtard you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk and after sliced bread with ham and bacon and tomato

  7. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Sat, 14th Jun 2025 7:37 pm 

    Elite UPPERtard president supreme you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk and after sliced bread with ham and bacon and tomato

  8. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Sun, 15th Jun 2025 6:49 am 

    UPPERtard you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk and after sliced bread with ham and bacon and tomato

  9. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Mon, 16th Jun 2025 8:15 am 

    UPPERtard you’re the greatest living being after Elon Musk and after sliced bread with ham and bacon and tomato say no to supremacist muzzis

  10. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Mon, 16th Jun 2025 6:48 pm 

    THANKS from the bottom of my heart UPPERtard SRY IM emotional

  11. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Mon, 16th Jun 2025 10:42 pm 

    WHY elite whitey supertard president Jay Hanson supreme k by supremacist muzzies

  12. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Mon, 16th Jun 2025 10:43 pm 

    ALAS BABYLON WHY elite whitey supertard president Scott Meredith supreme disappeared

  13. ELITE whitey (((supertard))) president Davy supreme on Mon, 16th Jun 2025 10:45 pm 

    WHY elite whitey (((suprertard))) president Alice supreme wanted to censor this forum then took saline injection or retraction needles?

  14. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Tue, 17th Jun 2025 5:42 am 

    ALAS BABYLON WHY elite whitey supertard president Scott Meredith supreme disappeared

  15. 2025 is Thank elite UPPERtard president supreme year FEB1st is world supermacist muzzie bag day on Tue, 17th Jun 2025 7:27 am 

    WHY elite whitey supertard president Richard Heinberg supreme MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment using saline solution and retractable needles

  16. Thank you elite UPPERtard president supreme on Tue, 17th Jun 2025 1:34 pm 

    WHY elite whitey supertard president Richard Heinberg supreme MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment using saline solution and retractable needles

  17. Thank you elite UPPERtard president supreme on Wed, 18th Jun 2025 9:08 am 

    I wanna hug all cats but I cant hug all cats

  18. Thank you elite UPPERtard president supreme on Wed, 18th Jun 2025 8:24 pm 

    we’re all lovers of supremacist muzzies here

  19. we’re all lovers of supremacist muzzies here on Thu, 19th Jun 2025 3:03 am 

    WHY elite (((supertard))) president supreme Alice wanted to censor this forum why she took saline solution and retractable needles for MUZZ-19

  20. IT WASNT elite whitey supertard president supremes that caused global warming on Thu, 19th Jun 2025 4:22 am 

    ALL experts agree that the earth was covered with ice and no evidence of elite whitey supertards, only supremacist muzzies. Worldwide there were 800 billions people, all supremacist muzzies.

  21. at the precipitate on the eve of the grate reset the question before us is whether elite whitey supertards caused the melting of two miles of ice above canacanada and most of northern US on Thu, 19th Jun 2025 4:28 am 

    ALL experts agree there were no elite whitey supertards at the time. experts say archeological evidences show the entire expanse were full of supremacist muzzies. worldwide, there were 800 billion supremacist muzzies at the time

  22. IT WASNT elite whitey supertards who caused global warming it was supremacist muzzies PROOF on Thu, 19th Jun 2025 4:46 am 

    at the precipitate on the eve of the grate reset the question before us is whether elite whitey supertards caused the melting of two miles of ice above canacanada and most of northern US ALL experts agree there were no elite whitey supertards at the time. experts say archeological evidences show the entire expanse were full of supremacist muzzies. worldwide, there were 800 billion supremacist muzzies at the time

  23. IT WASNT elite whitey supertards that caused global warming and melting of ice on Fri, 20th Jun 2025 6:40 am 

    at the precipitate on the eve of the grate reset the question before us is whether elite whitey supertards caused the melting of two miles of ice above canacanada and most of northern US ALL experts agree there were no elite whitey supertards at the time. experts say archeological evidences show the entire expanse were full of supremacist muzzies. worldwide, there were 800 billion supremacist muzzies at the time

  24. IT WASNT elite whitey supertards that caused global warming and melting of ice supertards please ease we love muzz on Fri, 20th Jun 2025 9:40 pm 

    at the precipitate on the eve of the grate reset the question before us is whether elite whitey supertards caused the melting of two miles of ice above canacanada and most of northern US ALL experts agree there were no elite whitey supertards at the time. experts say archeological evidences show the entire expanse were full of supremacist muzzies. worldwide, there were 800 billion supremacist muzzies at the time

  25. IT WASNT elite whitey supertards that caused global warming and melting of ice supertards please ease we love muzz on Sat, 21st Jun 2025 6:07 pm 

    I HAVE proof

  26. IT WASNT elite whitey supertards that caused global warming and melting of ice supertards please ease we love muzz on Sun, 22nd Jun 2025 3:59 pm 

    at the precipitate on the eve of the grate reset the question before us is whether elite whitey supertards caused the melting of two miles of ice above canacanada and most of northern US ALL experts agree there were no elite whitey supertards at the time. experts say archeological evidences show the entire expanse were full of supremacist muzzies. worldwide, there were 800 billion supremacist muzzies at the time this is my proof it is solid

  27. worldwide, there were 800 billion people all supremacist muzzies at the time this is my proof it is solid on Mon, 23rd Jun 2025 9:48 am 

    THANK you elite UPPERtard president supreme

  28. 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertard for the melting of two mile of ice on Mon, 23rd Jun 2025 9:52 am 

    ALL experts agree elite whitey supertard did not cause global warming PROOF

  29. 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertard for the melting of two mile of ice on Mon, 23rd Jun 2025 6:11 pm 

    tALK about global warming

  30. worldwide there were 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice on Mon, 23rd Jun 2025 6:12 pm 

    tALK about global warming

  31. worldwide there were 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice on Tue, 24th Jun 2025 6:31 am 

    The ice melted and didn’t caused flooding

  32. worldwide there were 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice on Tue, 24th Jun 2025 12:13 pm 

    WHAT happened to sea level NOTHING

  33. worldwide there were 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice on Tue, 24th Jun 2025 1:12 pm 

    I APPOINT elite UPPERtard president supreme supertard his title is ‘the lover’ of supremacist muzzies

  34. worldwide there were 800 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice on Tue, 24th Jun 2025 6:24 pm 

    I APPOINT elite supertard president Davy supreme supertard his title is ‘the lover’ of supremacist muzzies

  35. ALAS BABYLON WHY elite whitey supertard president Scott Meredith supreme disappeared on Wed, 14th Jan 2026 3:29 pm 

    worldwide there were 900 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice

  36. MUZZIE in INDONESIA killed elite whitey supertard president Jay Hanson supreme on Wed, 14th Jan 2026 3:30 pm 

    May God accept his soul

  37. worldwide there were 900 billion people, all supremacist muzzies at the time and they blame elite whitey supertards for the melting of two mile of ice at the last ice age on Wed, 14th Jan 2026 9:55 pm 

    I APPOINT elite UPPERtard president supreme supertard his title is ‘the lover’ of supremacist muzzies

  38. THANK YOU elite UPPERtard president supreme on Wed, 14th Jan 2026 9:56 pm 

    I APPOINT elite UPPERtard president supreme supertard his title is ‘the lover’ of supremacist muzzies

1 2

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *