Have you ever put on a pair of pants and found some change in your pockets? That seems to be the best feeling you can have; it's basically free money (though it was already yours in the first place)! Funny enough, scientists have somehow had the same thing happen just recently, except it wasn't spare change that was found it, it was 2.6 trillion trees. Yep, trillion. That's 422 trees for every single person.
This new result came about from the merging of two different types of sampling: on the ground and in the air. Satellite views give us an idea of where there are forests and where there aren't; this is helpful for calculated forest area, but not the number of trees, which can be covered by high canopies. Therefore, scientists have to go to the forests themselves and take counts of trees to find a density for the forest type. So they did this. 429,775 times. And they put these two sampling methods together to get the aforementioned 2.6 trillion number.
Some interesting facts that arose out of this study:
This new result came about from the merging of two different types of sampling: on the ground and in the air. Satellite views give us an idea of where there are forests and where there aren't; this is helpful for calculated forest area, but not the number of trees, which can be covered by high canopies. Therefore, scientists have to go to the forests themselves and take counts of trees to find a density for the forest type. So they did this. 429,775 times. And they put these two sampling methods together to get the aforementioned 2.6 trillion number.
Some interesting facts that arose out of this study:
- Russia has the most trees at 641 billion (greater than the entire original estimate) or 4,461 trees per person.
- India's tree population was only 35 billion, or 28 trees per person.
- Boreal and tundra forests actually have greater average tree density than tropical forests, though they exist in smaller areas.
Sadly, just because we found more trees than we thought we had, doesn't mean we aren't also losing these trees. In the same study, scientists were able to also get an accurate measurement of global deforestation. Gross deforestation is estimated at 15.3 billion trees, but since 5 billion is believed to be naturally restored, net deforestation is more like 10 billion trees annually. Total deforestation in human history is estimated 46% of the original tree population, or 1.64 trillion trees.
Much like how finding change in your pocket doesn't make you richer, finding more trees doesn't make us more environmentally friendly.
Extra: This isn't the first time that a new study has revealed more of a seemingly ordinary situation: back in 2011 scientists found 657 new barrier islands.
Much like how finding change in your pocket doesn't make you richer, finding more trees doesn't make us more environmentally friendly.
Extra: This isn't the first time that a new study has revealed more of a seemingly ordinary situation: back in 2011 scientists found 657 new barrier islands.